The San Francisco Giants will have to swap All-Star for All-Star in their rotation on Wednesday as two time Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum will need another day to recuperate from the the stomach flu, forcing Matt Cain to move up a day in the rotation at Citizen's Bank Park. Cain will oppose the Phillies Cole Hamels in what undoubtedly will be a pitcher's duel between the NL West and NL East leaders.
Cain (8-6 3.06 ERA) will be pitching on regular rest due to the off day on Monday, and is coming off a loss against the Brewers in which he gave up four runs on eight hits in his six innings of work. Cain shut down the Phils in llast year's NLCS, and hopefully can have a repeat performance against the Phils today.
As for Hamels, (12-5 2.62 ERA) his terrific regular season continues to roll on after he made it seven innings long in seven of his last 10 starts, and has given up more than two earned runs in nine of his last 10 starts. The left-hander has a 4-2 record and a 4.67 ERA in eight career starts against San Francisco. Hamels hasn't had an ERA over 4.00 in any month this season, and is 3-1 with a 3.49 ERA thus far in July.
Pablo Sandoval dipped under .300 BA for the first time since July 3 after his 0-3 night on Tuesday. Pablo is a .313 career hitter after the All-Star break, so hopefully he can get hot once again. The Giants are 20-10 since June 22, while Philly has 41 quality starts in their 54 home games this year, posting a 33-8 record in those games.
First pitch is set for 4:05 pm PT with coverage on CSN Bay Area and KNBR 680 AM.