The San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers are a little over an hour away from first pitch of the 2011 regular season opener on ESPN. Thanks to the power of twitter (@sfgiants, @dodgers), we've been able to get a look at their starting lineups straight from the proverbial horses' mouths. The Giants only real "surprise" is Brandon Belt getting right into the lineup at first base. I wouldn't really qualify it as much of a surprise given his solid spring, but rookies in an opening day lineup aren't exactly an every day occurrence.
The pitching matchup features Tim Lincecum and Clayton Kershaw doing battle. Kershaw is notable for Giants fans for a variety of reasons, but it's most notable that he actually faced off with Brandon Belt in a high school showcase game. I don't have their stats in front of me, and I have to think neither is taking that previous battle to heart. Nonetheless, it's a fun fact for you.
We'll be here all weekend for the Giants-Dodgers series. Head over to McCovey Chronicles for more in-depth discussion about the Giants and their choices for today's starting lineup. They'll have an open game thread fairly soon.
Giants
1. Andres Torres CF
2. Freddy Sanchez 2B
3. Aubrey Huff RF
4. Buster Posey C
5. Pat Burrell LF
6. Miguel Tejada SS
7. Brandon Belt 1B
8. Pablo Sandoval 3B
9. Tim Lincecum SP
Dodgers
1. Rafael Furcal SS
2. Tony Gwynn, Jr. LF
3. Andre Ethier RF
4. Matt Kemp CF
5. James Loney 1B
6. Juan Uribe 3B
7. Rod Barajas C
8. Jamey Carroll 2B
9. Clayton Kershaw SP