Matt Cain, Marco Scutaro Lead Giants Past Cardinals, Into World Series

Players of the Day for Monday, October 22, 2012

National League

Matt Cain

NLCS: San Francisco 9 St. Louis 0 - Matt Cain threw 5 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball and Marco Scutaro went 3-for-4 as the Giants blew past the Cardinals in game seven to capture the NL Championship and head to the World Series against the AL's Detroit Tigers.

Scutaro: NLCS MVP

Cain, a 3-1 loser in game three, redeemed himself in the ultimate test, scattering five Cardinal hits while walking one and striking out four to notch his fourth career post-season victory against two losses.

Scutaro, who was named series MVP, scored just once and didn't drive in any runs, but singled to lead off the third inning, starting a four-run rally that was the eventual undoing of Cardinal starter, Kyle Lohse, who took the loss.

Scutaro batted .500 for the series (14-for-28), scored six runs and drove in four. He carries a nine-game, post-season hitting streak into the World Series, which begins Wednesday in San Francisco.

Game one of the fall classic is set to begin at 8:07 pm EDT on Wednesday, October 24. Game two will be on Thursday, also in San Francisco. Games three, four and - if necessary - five, will be in Detroit, on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, the 27th, 28, and 29th. Should the series go to games six and seven, those would be back in san Francisco, on Wednesday, October 31 and Thursday, November 1.

The Tigers beat the New York Yankees four straight in the ALCS, and will be well-rested, with their starting rotation in good order. Justin Verlander will start game one for Detroit. The Giants have not yet named a game one starter.

San Francisco came back from being down three games to one in the NLCS, capturing the final three games by a combined score of 20-1, their starting pitching coming through with superior performances when it mattered most.