Giants shakeup: Lincecum, Zito in, Bumgarner out

• Giants' Bruce Bochy kept his options open for the rotation
• After Game 3, Tim Lincecum was named the next starter
• Bochy could opt for Barry Zito in Game 5

ST. LOUIS -- Matt Cain pitched better than Kyle Lohse. Cain also helped give manager Bruce Bochy the full set of pitching options the San Francisco Giants will need to come back in the National League Championship Series.

But Cain lost Game 3 to Lohse and the St. Louis Cardinals — a pivotal loss in that he's San Francisco's best pitcher and would need the series to go seven games to have a chance to redeem himself. And he only has to look at some of his shortcomings that cost him in an otherwise strong effort.

Cain pitching into the seventh inning — the second consecutive Giants starter to get that far — allows Bochy to give Tim Lincecum the Game 4 start and opt for Barry Zito in Game 5.

Lincecum, who struggled for much of the regular season as a starter, has allowed one run and three hits over eight innings as a reliever during the playoffs. Bochy has preferred him all along for this start but wanted to make sure he didn't need Lincecum to relieve in the meantime.

That means Madison Bumgarner is out of the rotation after allowing six runs and eight hits in less than four innings Sunday, continuing a disturbing trend. In eight starts since Aug. 25, including two in the postseason, he has a 6.70 ERA.

"It's time to give Madison a little break," Bochy said. "He's a young kid, 23. He's been pitching a lot of innings."

Zito allowed four walks and four hits in less than three innings in Game4 of the NL Division Series against the Cincinnati Reds, though the Giants rallied to win. The soft-tossing lefty could be vulnerable against the right-handed middle of St. Louis' batting order.

Nos. 3-6 hitters Matt Holliday, Allen Craig, Yadier Molina and David Freese have a combined career .308 batting average and .569 slugging percentage against Zito. Craig has three homers and a double in 10 at-bats.

A couple of game-changing moments in the early innings Wednesday cost the Giants a chance to remain unbeaten on the road this postseason and cost Cain on a night when he thought he had his best stuff in several starts.

Cain was in control with a 1-0 lead in the third inning when Jon Jay lined a two-out single.

That brought up Matt Carpenter, only in the game because Carlos Beltran left an inning earlier with a knee strain (he's day-to-day) but also someone to make Cain pause.

Carpenter had singles in all four of his previous at-bats against Cain, with two RBI.

Cain quickly got ahead 0-2 and threw a ball. His next throw was way off target. Trouble was, it was in the general direction of first base and went into the stands. Whether Carpenter in any way distracted Cain, his next pitch to Carpenter was a ball and the following one a hanging slider that landed over the right-field fence.

Cain had a huge opportunity to wipe out his sudden deficit when he came to bat the next half inning. With runners on first and third and one out, Cain bunted foul twice.

"It wasn't a safety squeeze," he said. "It was just a bunt like we always do, and, if I make a good-enough bunt, he tries to score."

When he finally got one down in fair territory, it wasn't placed well enough for Gregor Blanco to score from third, just for Brandon Crawford to advance from first to second.

It was one thing for lifetime .127 hitter Cain to strike out with two men on in the second, but this time a game-tying run there for the taking was left at third after Angel Pagan flied out.