Giants host Reds in Game 1 of NLDS

It’s on!

The San Francisco Giants’ October-quest for their second World Series title in three years officially begins tonight at AT&T Park as the 2010 champs host the Cincinnati Reds (97-65) in the first game of a best-of-five series.

The first two games will be in San Francisco, with Game 3, Game 4 (if necessary), and Game 5 (if necessary) in Cincy.

The Giants (94-68) have announced their 25-man playoff roster for the NLDS Series and there were really no big surprises. Tonight’s starting lineup is:

1. Angel Pagan (cf)
2. Marco Scutaro (2b)
3. Pablo Sandoval (3b)
4. Buster Posey (c)
5. Hunter Pence (rf)
6. Brandon Belt (1b)
7. Gregor Blanco (lf)
8. Brandon Crawford (ss)
9. Matt Cain (p)

Cain (16-5, 2.79, 1.040) will face off against Johnny Cueto (19-9, 2.78, 1.171) tonight.

Cain dropped both of his decisions against the Reds earlier this season and is 2-2 with a 2.61 ERA over his last five games against Cincinnati.

Cueto, meanwhile, is 2-1 with a 1.93 ERA over his last five starts against the Giants. The 26-year old righty lost his only game against the G-men this season, a 5-0 defeat on June 28.

Overall this year, the Reds took 4 out of 7 regular season games. In 2011, Cincinnati was 5-2 against the Giants. San Francisco holds the all-time advantage, 1199-995.

There are still a few tickets available via the third-party ticket vendor method. Average ticket prices for tonight’s game are $263 bucks.