7:03 PM EST: About an hour away from first pitch! Stay with us for full coverage of the NL Wild Card Game!
7:02 PM EST: The
Giants need to get on the board first. They are 65-18 when scoring the first run, but only 22-56 when they fall behind first.
7:01 PM EST: From the
Giants twitter account:
7:00 PM EST: While the focus is on the game, a big topic of discussion in
Pittsburgh is the contractual status of
Russell Martin. Columnist
Dejan Kovacevic just spoke with owner
Bob Nutting that said the team will offer an extension that is 'beyond rational.'
6:59PM EST: The
Pirates and
Giants have met one other time in the postseason. The Pirates took the
National League Championship Series 3-1 in 1971 on the way to winning the
World Series.
Bob Robertson hit three home runs in game two of the series. The Pirates beat
Gaylord Perry in game four thanks to a three-run shot by
Al Oliver.
6:58 PM EST: Bumgarner is not an automatic out when he grabs a bat. He had four home runs on the year and batted .258. His 15 RBI were the best since
Mike Hampton in 2001. Live MLB Baseball Playoff 2014
6:57 PM EST: A big part of the game that has not been touched on much will be defense. Both teams rely on good defense to keep them in games despite good offensive number in September. The
Pirates do use advanced statistics to put on shifts more than the
Giants. The team that can stay error-free and get lucky a few times beating the shift should come out on top.
6:56 PM EST: The
Pirates hit worse against left-handed pitchers this year. They managed only 23 home runs in 1,204 at-bats.
Walker will be turned around at the plate tonight and hit from the right side where he hit only two of his 23 bombs from this season. The key could be
Snider at the bottom of the lineup, who has hit better against left-handed hurlers. Snider slashed .381/.435/.619 in limited at-bats against lefties, but it is still worth noting.
6:55 PM EST: Giants lineup versus
Volquez:
Blanco 5-for-19, 3 BB.
Posey 5-for-9, 2 BB.
Sandoval 6-for-13.
Pence 7-for-36, 3 HR, 5 BB.
Belt 8-for-18, HR.
Crawford 3-for-20.
Ishikawa 1-for-4, BB.
Panik has not faced him.
6:54 PM EST: Pirates lineup versus
Bumgarner:
Harrison 4-for 5, 1HR.
Mercer 3-for-7.
McCutchen 2-for-10, 2 BB.
Martin 3-for-7, BB.
Walker 3-for-9.
G. Sanchez 3-for-9.
Snider and
Marte have not faced him. MLB NL Wild Card Giants vs Pirates Live
6:53 PM EST: The
Giants lineup is about as expected. 1.
Gregor Blanco-8, 2.
Joe Panik-4, 3.
Buster Posey-2, 4.
Pablo Sandoval-6, 5.
Hunter Pence-9, 6.
Brandon Belt-3, 7.
Brandon Crawford-5, 8.
Travis Ishikawa-7, 9.
Bumgarner-1.
6:52 PM EST: The
Pirates lineup is out and they tried to stack the top of the order with guys that hits left handers well. 1.
Josh Harrison-5, 2.
Jordy Mercer-6, 3.
Andrew McCutchen-8, 4.
Martin-2, 5.
Starling Marte-7, 6.
Neil Walker-4, 7.
Gaby Sanchez-3, 8.
Travis Snider-9, 9.
Volquez-1 2014 MLB NL Wild Card Live
6:51 PM EST: The
Giants counter with their ace,
Madison Bumgarner. He went 18-10 on the season and had an impressive record on the road.
Bumgarner finished with a 2.98 ERA and four complete games. There is little difference with Bumgarner's FIP and he has a good strike out to walk ratio. He should get a good number of Ks tonight. Bumgarner did face the Pirates one time this season and was knocked out after giving up five earned runs over four innings.
6:50 PM EST: The Pirates starting pitcher,
Edison Volquez, was announced as one of three finalists for the
NL Comeback Player of the Year award in the Players Choice voting. He finished the year 13-7 with a 3.04 ERA. His lowest ERA from 2010-13 was 4.14 and he led the majors in earned runs last year. Volquez is 7-1 since July and had an ERA of 1.08 in September. His advanced metrics numbers are not as strong with a fielding independent pitching (FIP) mark of 4.15 for the year. That stat measures a pitcher's ability to prevent home runs, walks and hit batters while being able to get strike outs. The Pirates hope that the advanced stats do not tell the story for tonight. San Francisco Giants vs Pittsburgh Pirates Live Score and Result
6:49 PM EST: The grounds crew at
PNC Park starting their game day preparations around 2:30 pm.
6:48 PM EST: One of the biggest question marks heading into the game was the availability of
Russell Martin. After manager
Clint Hurdle's press conference yesterday, he told the media that he expected to go. 'It's pretty important baseball,' Martin said. 'Not that the other games weren't. But this is for all the marbles. I can definitely go.' Backup
Chris Stewart was hit on the wrist with a backswing on Sunday while Martin has been battling a tight hamstring. The Pirates are carrying a third catcher,
Tony Sanchez, on tonight's roster.
6:47 PM EST: The teams released their rosters earlier today. The
Giants went with 10 pitchers, three catchers, seven infielders and five outfielders. The
Pirates will carry nine pitchers, three catchers, seven infielders and six outfielders. Live San Francisco Giants vs Pittsburgh Pirates Streaming
6:46 PM EST: The schedule for tonight (times in eastern): The Hall of Fame Club at
PNC Park opens at 4:30 P.M. with the Riverwalk following at 5:30 P.M. Gates will open at 6:00 P.M. Player introductions start at 7:37 P.M. and the first pitch from
Pirates great
Kent Tekulve is at 7:57 P.M.
6:45 PM EST: Welcome to
VAVEL USA's live coverage of the
National League Wild Card Game between the
San Francisco Giants and
Pittsburgh Pirates from
PNC Park in
Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania.
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