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Fully aware that Detroit's Justin Verlander will pitch Game 1, the San Francisco's Bruce Bochy revealed on Tuesday that left-hander Barry Zito will get the ball to open the World Series for the Giants, as reported by Chris Iott of MLive.com.
The 34-year-old Zito won 15 games with a 4.15 earned-run average for San Francisco during the regular season, and is known for his trademark high-arching 12-6 curveball that he routinely uses to throw off hitters. Zito held the St. Louis Cardinals scoreless over 7⅔ innings in a key outing in Game 5 of the NLCS, but was removed from the mound early due to wildness in a start against Cincinnati back in the NLDS.
Winner of the 2002 Cy Young Award while with the Oakland Athletics, Zito was famously left off the Giants' playoff roster before their eventual 2010 World Series run. Though his fastball has dropped in velocity and he is coming off the lowest single-season strikeout total as a pro, he holds a stellar 8-6 record with a 2.91 ERA against Detroit over his career.