There's only one National League series this weekend, pitting teams against each other who are both above .500 going into battle. The St. Louis Cardinals travel to AT&T Park, to take on the suddenly struggling San Francisco Giants, losers of four straight. But this is most remarkable for the starting pitching: the arms used have made 17 starts so far, with zero losses between them and a combined ERA of 1.71 to go with the 11-0 record.
Weekend Highlight: Cardinals @ Giants
↵If the Giants want to turn things around, they can do no better than with Tim Lincecum. His bid to become the first three-peat Cy Young since Randy Johnson has got off to a splendid start, with only two runs allowed over his first three outings. Not that opponent Jaime Garcia has been exposed as a scrub: he has allowed one run in his thirteen innings of work so far.
↵Saturday’s pitching match-up is hardly less mouthwatering: Barry Zito has finally started to repay that monstrous contract for the Giants, and is undefeated in three starts with a 1.86 ERA. Adam Wainwright has gone one better, getting the W in each of his three outings, and has a 1.50 ERA, so there seems little to choose between the pitchers here either.
↵Finally, Sunday had Brad Penny against Matt Cain. This may be the only game where there’s a clearly-discernible edge on results so far, since Cain’s ERA is an unimpressive - by the standards of this series, anyway - 3.86. Yes, he may be 3-for-3 in quality starts, but Penny has given up only three earned runs in 21 innings of work. Those who love pitching might want to get a plane ticket to the Bay Area for the weekend.
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