St. Louis @ San Francisco preview

Last Meeting ( Aug 9, 2012 ) San Francisco 1, St. Louis 3

Fresh from a historic ninth-inning comeback, the St. Louis Cardinals visit the San Francisco Giants in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series in a battle between the two most recent World Series champions. Both teams enter the next round carrying plenty of momentum after advancing past the Division Series in dramatic fashion. The Giants lost two straight at home against Cincinnati before becoming the first NL team to ever come back from an 0-2 deficit in the Division Series to win, while St. Louis trailed Washington 6-0 in Game 5 of its series before recording the largest comeback ever in a winner-take-all postseason game by scoring four runs in the ninth to win 9-7.

With Jaime Garcia (left shoulder) out for the rest of the postseason, the Cardinals will start Lance Lynn in Game 1 against the Giants. Chris Carpenter is expected to start Game 2, followed by Kyle Lohse in Game 3 and Adam Wainwright in Game 4. The Giants’ Tim Lincecum will likely return to the rotation after giving up one run over 6 1/3 innings in two relief appearances in the NLDS, with Barry Zito headed to the bullpen. The Giants are expected to start Ryan Vogelsong in Game 2, followed by Matt Cain in Game 3 and Lincecum in Game 4. San Francisco needs more production from Hunter Pence, Angel Pagan and Marco Scutaro, who went a combined 10-for-60 (.167) in the NLDS, while St. Louis hopes Carlos Beltran's hot streak continues after he went 8-for-18 (.444) with two homers against Washington.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, FOX

PITCHING MATCHUP: Giants LH Madison Bumgarner (16-11, 3.37 ERA) vs. Cardinals RH Lance Lynn (18-7, 3.78)

Bumgarner looks to rebound from a rocky outing in Game 2 of the NLDS last Sunday, when he allowed four runs on seven hits over 4 1/3 innings in the Giants’ 9-0 loss. Matt Holliday is 2-for-12 (.167) with three strikeouts against Bumgarner, who went 0-2 and allowed seven runs over 13 1/3 innings in two starts against the Cardinals this season. He’s 31-4 with a 2.56 ERA when the Giants score at least three runs.

Lynn made three appearances in relief in the NLDS, giving up three runs over 3 1/3 innings. After struggling in August with a 6.66 ERA, Lynn went 5-2 with a 2.76 ERA in eight September appearances (four starts). He allowed four runs on eight hits over six frames in his one start against San Francisco this season on Aug. 7 at Busch Stadium, with Buster Posey hitting a three-run homer in the first inning.

WALK-OFFS

1. The Giants and Cardinals split their six-game season series. They split a two-game series at AT&T Park in May before splitting four games at Busch Stadium in August.

2. Cardinals first-year manager Mike Matheny played for the Giants in 2005 and 2006.

3. Suspended OF Melky Cabrera was reinstated Friday by Major League Baseball, but the Giants have no plans to activate him during the postseason.