The 2010 National League Championship series between the San Francisco Giants and the Philadelphia Phillies has already given us some sterling starting pitching. Despite what a few of the the classier Philly fans believe.
Roy Halladay and Tim Lincecum hooked Cy Young horns in Game 1 and, though neither was on top of his superlative game, they still managed to whiff 15 batters in an evenly split 14 combined innings.
Roy Oswalt and Jonathan Sanchez dueled in Game 2 with the Phillies’ ace walking away the better man on the evening. The midseason acquisition spun eight frames of three-hit ball, surrendering Cody Ross’ fourth postseason big fly in the fifth inning as his only blemish.
Sanchez wasn’t quite as dirty, but he managed five erratic innings while only allowing two earned runs to a vastly superior offense.
And the fun isn’t over yet.
With the seven-gamer knotted at a game apiece, the Gents and Phightin’s will give us at least three more scintillating matchups between starting pitchers.
Matt Cain and Cole Hamels will reignite hostilities when the series opens in the City on Tuesday, and we’ll probably see rookie phenom Madison Bumgarner before another dose of Doc Vs. the Franchise in Game 5.
Depending on how the contests unfold, we might see one crack this list of the top 10 pitching matchups in the history of Major League Baseball.