The Giants manager has named the starting pitchers for Games 1 and 2 of the World Series.
Bruce Bochy will give Barry Zito the ball Wednesday night.
Bochy said Madison Bumgarner will be the starter for Game 2 over Tim Lincecum. Lincecum will be available in the bullpen for all of the games, according to Bochy.
Bochy made the announcements officially during a pre-World Series press conference late Tuesday at the ballpark.
He said he wasn't able to give Zito the good news until he got to the ballpark Tuesday. Bochy said Zito accidentally left his phone at the stadium after Monday night's win so he could not be reached.
He said Zito was "ecstatic.'
"I couldn't be happier for him. It says a lot of about his mental toughness," Bochy said.
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Bochy had to give the other kind of phone call two years ago when he told Zito he wasn't even going to be on the team roster for the 2010 World Series.
Obviously, Tuesday's phone call was much easier to make.
The left-handed Barry Zito will be up against Detroit Tigers ace Justin Verlander.
Zito was kept off the team entirely in 2010 and became a cheerleader on the bench. Fast forward two years and he is the starting pitcher of Game 1.
Zito is credited for a masterful outing in St. Louis last Friday that kept his team alive in the NLCS.
He threw 7 and 2/3 shutout innings Game 5.
Now he will be on the biggest stage in baseball beginning at 5:07 p.m. at AT&T Park.
During the regular season, Zito posted a 4.15 ERA and won 15 games, which is the most he's won since signing with the Giants in 2007.
Bochy didn't say it, but now that we know who is starting Games 1 and 2, that means Ryan Vogelsong will pitch Game 3 and Matt Cain will get Game 4.
