HBT: Zito will start Game 1 for Giants in WS

UPDATE: It?s official, Zito will start Game 1.

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There?s no official word yet on the Giants? rotation for the World Series, but Andrew Baggarly of CSNBayArea.com reports that Barry Zito is likely to get the call for Game 1 against the Tigers.

He?d face Justin Verlander in a matchup of former Cy Young winners (which sounds perfectly normal except for the part about Zito winning his in 2002).

That represents a helluva turnaround for a guy who was left off the postseason roster during the Giants? run to the World Series in 2010, but Zito came up huge with 7.2 shutout innings in Game 5 of the NLCS and according to Baggarly ?word around the team is that Zito deserves the honor.?

Zito struggled against right-handed hitters all season, allowing them to bat .281 with an .823 OPS (compared to .209 with a .559 OPS versus lefties), so matching up with a Detroit lineup that includes righties Miguel Cabrera, Austin Jackson, Delmon Young, Jhonny Peralta, Omar Infante, and Avisail Garcia isn?t ideal. Of course, the same was even more true of a Cardinals lineup filled with good right-handed bats and Zito shut them down.

Source: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/10/23/barry-zito-expected-to-start-game-1-for-giants/related/

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