Real Man of Genius: Bruce Bochy’s Bright Idea

I salute you Bruce Bochy because you have made a very wise decision to start Jonathan Sanchez in game 2 at the Bandbox known as Citizen's Bank Park instead of Matt Cain.

This must not have been easy because Cain has been steady as a rock for the team this season and carried the staff on his broad shoulders during the middle of the season but you looked at the numbers and did what was right.

Matt Cain is a fly ball power pitcher who is built to pitch at AT&T Park while Sanchez's stuff plays anywhere.

For his career Matt Cain has been a better home pitcher by more then half a run (3.19 ERA vs. 3.76 ERA) he gives up less homeruns on the same number of fly balls and against a homerun lineup that is a big factor.

Matt Cain and Citizen's Bank don't mix in his 3 career starts there he is 0-2 with a 5.29 ERA and 7 homeruns given up in only 17 innings pitched. That comes out to a 3.7 HR/9 there compared to 0 homeruns in the 2 games against them at AT&T Park.

The other factors that people are pointing to are less important to me, I think giving Cain the best chance to succeed is a big factor in giving the Giants a chance to win this series and pitching at home compared to that supposed baseball park is a big factor.