Bruce Bochy ended any speculation about the Giants making rotation changes by saying yesterday that Madison Bumgarner will start Game 4 of the NLCS “no matter what.”
Bochy has always been pretty clear about Bumgarner getting the Game 4 nod, but that didn’t stop some people from predicting that he’d use Tim Lincecum on short rest if the Giants were down in the series.
Regardless of how tonight’s Matt Cain-Cole Hamels matchup goes, Bumgarner will get the call in Game 4 followed by Lincecum, Jonathan Sanchez, and Cain in the final three games of the series.
Phillies manager Charlie Manuel hasn’t been quite as adamant about Joe Blanton taking the mound in Game 4, leaving the door open for Roy Halladay to come back on short rest to make the start against Bumgarner.