Game 1 Lineups In; Zito, Guillen Out

We're less than an hour from the scheduled first pitch of the NLDS game 1 between the Giants and the Braves here at AT&T Park, and the lineups for both squads are in.



No real head-scratchers in the lineup tonight, but I was a little surprised to see that Jose Guillen did not make the Giants 25-man roster for this series. Apparantley, he's not at %100 (neck/back issue) and it's been showing lately, so I agree with rolling with Ross in right for this series under the circumstances. Anyway, enough pre-game blabber. Stay tuned during the game as we'll try and do a few in-game menions here, but regardless, here is the lineup (w/key '10 stats) the San Francisco Giants will be sending up against Derek Lowe, as well as the lineup that will oppose Timmy Lincecum:

BRAVES

3B Omar Infante
RF Jayson Heyward
1B Derek Lee
C Brian McCann
SS Adrian Gonzalez
RF Matt Diaz
2B Brooks Conrad
CF Rick Ankiel
P Derek Lowe (16-12, 4.02 era)

GIANTS

CF Andres Torres
2B Freddy Sanchez
1b Aubrey Huff
C Buster Posey
LF Pat Burrell
SS Juan Uribe
3B Pablo Sandoval
RF Cody Ross
P Tim Lincecum (16-10, 3.43)

Final Pre-Game Notes: Of course, the Giants have to get to Lowe early, he's a sinker baller and gets stronger as the game goes. If the Giants can make him get the ball up, they should be fine. For Lincecum, it's attack the zone early, trust Buster and trust your stuff. As long as he's not giving away free passes and putting himself in bad counts, he should be in control! One big key though will be to limit the damage of the Braves' top-3-4 hitters, as they do drop off drastically after that. I wanted to reframe from giving my prediction, for supersticious reasons, but I take the Giants tonight, 4-2.