It may have taken five hours and four minutes, but the San Francisco Giants are fighting to live another day.
As their emotions cool off and the adrenaline subsides from a wild, roller coaster type of ballgame during a win-or-go-home Game 3 of the National League Division Series, the Giants have a chance to keep their ever-year championship dreams alive Tuesday night at AT&T Park during the fourth game of the best-of-five series.
San Francisco's Matt Moore and Chicago's John Lackey will be tasked with getting their respective squads on track early in Game 4, which is slated to begin at 5:40 p.m.
Moore notched just over 16 innings of postseason work back in 2011 and 2013, tallying a 4.41 earned run average in the process. The 6-foot, 3-inch starter clinched San Francisco's spot in the postseason after pitching eight innings of three-hit, one-run baseball in the season finale, which happens to be last outing on the mound.
San Francisco Giants 2016 Playoffs Highlights
Despite being in the majors for six years, albeit mostly in the American League under the tutelage of current Chicago manager Jon Maddon, Moore has almost no history against Chicago's current lineup. The only current Cub to face the left-hander, outfielder Dexter Fowler, is 1-for-1 with a walk with two appearances at the dish, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Moore's opposing number, the 37-year-old Lackey, is no stranger to the playoff atmosphere. In 20 career postseason starts, the right-hander boasts a 3.11 earned run average, which even includes a win way back in 2002 when the then-Anaheim Angel starter pitched against the Giants in the World Series.
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Lackey toed the rubber against San Francisco earlier this season, giving up one hit and one earned run in five innings of work.
The Giants, who somehow, someway continue to unearth postseason magic when the season is on the line, will be looking to extend their current streak of 10 consecutive wins in elimination battles Tuesday night.
That double-digit number is the best run in the history of playoff baseball.
"We're hard to kill," San Francisco ace Madison Bumgarner told reporters in the clubhouse after Game 3.
EDITOR'S NOTE: A previous version of this story indicated that John Lackey pitched in relief against the San Francisco Giants earlier this season instead of starting.
