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NL Wild Card: Giants, Bumgarner visit Pirates at PNC Park

By Jake Misener

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After Tuesday’s American League Wild Card game set the bar perhaps unreachably high for the rest of the 2014 MLB Postseason, the attention of the baseball world will be fixed on the Steel City as the Pittsburgh Pirates host the San Francisco Giants for the NL Wild Card game with a matchup with the Washington Nationals on the line.

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San Francisco is turning to left-hander Madison Bumgarner in the opener – and given his success on the road this season, this hardly comes as a surprise. The southpaw was 18-10 with a 2.98 ERA overall, including a sterling 11-4 mark on the road – where he posted a 2.22 earned run average. In one start this season against Pittsburgh, back on July 28, the Giants’ ace struggled, lasting just four innings – which tied for his shortest outing of the season – allowing five earned runs on six hits in a 5-0 loss.

However, in the season’s second half, the lefty has posted a 2.29 ERA in just over 90 innings of work, including a minuscule 1.37 mark in August and a still-solid 3.07 mark in September. Since the loss to Pittsburgh, Bumgarner has pitched at least six innings in ten straight starts entering play Wednesday night, giving teammate Ryan Vogelsong plenty of optimism heading into the Wild Card matchup with Pittsburgh, as he told MLB.com.

"“When the guy takes the ball, there’s that feeling that we’re going to win. As a pitcher, that’s one of the best feelings you can have. I’ve had it here in the past where you can tell when you walk in the room that the guys are excited that you’re on the mound that day. For me, the thing that stands out the most is the energy the team has when he takes the mound.”"

Pittsburgh, which finished a pair of games behind the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Central, enter the postseason having lost its last two games of the regular season. Manager Clint Hurdle will hand the ball to right-hander Edinson Volquez on Wednesday night in front of the sellout crowd at PNC Park in hopes that he can extend his red-hot streak.

In his last dozen starts, the right-hander has a 1.78 ERA and ended the season with a scoreless streak of 18 innings. Wednesday night will mark Volquez’s first start of the season against the Giants. His teammate and former NL MVP Andrew McCutchen says he and his team are ready to take care of business after last season’s disappointing loss to St. Louis in the National League Division Series in five games.

"“That’s the way I play all the time – to win,” McCutchen said. “We have to treat it like any other game that we’re going out having to win.”"

Tonight’s game is set for a 8 p.m. ET start from PNC Park. ESPN Radio has the national broadcast, while KNBR 680 has the call in the Bay Area and KDKA-FM 93.7 carries the Pittsburgh area radio call. The game will be shown on national television on ESPN.

Here are the starting lineups for the Wednesday night contest:

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