Posey Back Thursday in Battle of Ages

On Wednesday night, Giants catcher Buster Posey was a late scratch from the lineup because he came down with the shingles on Monday and needed additional time off to recover from the viral infection. (As many people have pointed out already do not Google the word "shingles." Especially if you've eaten lunch or breakfast in the last five hours.)

Posey's returning to the lineup on Thursday, though, and that's good news. I think anyway -- Posey said Wednesday that he wanted to return, and he's taking medicine for the viral infection, and it stands to reason that the Giants wouldn't force Posey into the lineup until he's totally healthy.

After all, Hector Sanchez is a capable replacement offensively, even if he's had mixed results with the pitching staff in games he's caught. And mixed results may be an understatement: Barry Zito tossed his first complete-game shutout as a Giant and Tim Lincecum got shelled in the shortest outing of his career with Sanchez behind the plate.

No matter though, as Posey pinch hit on Wednesday night and now will catch for Madison Bumgarner in Colorado.

Bumgarner, who didn't have a superb performance his first time out for the Giants, is involved in a matchup for, quite literally, the ages.

MadBum will go toe-to-toe with the ageless Jamie Moyer, who was born on November 18, 1962 and, for those of you who aren't proficient in calculus, is 49 years old.

Moyer was drafted in the sixth round of the 1984 MLB Draft. That was five years before Bumgarner was born.

No, really: Moyer had 31 career MLB wins and more than 500 innings pitched before Bumgarner was even born.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it's the third-largest age gap between two starting pitcher in MLB history, with Moyer and Bumgarner being separated by 26 years and 256 days in age.

Frankly, given the absurd nature of the first two games in this series, it's a pretty fitting bookend to the Giants time in Colorado.

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