SAN FRANCISCO AT PITTSBURGH
TIME/TV 7:07 p.m. Central, ESPN
SEASON SERIES Pirates won 4-2.
PROJECTED LINEUPS
GIANTS
POS. PLAYER AVG. HR RBI
CF Gregor Blanco .260 5 38
2B Joe Panik .305 1 18
C Buster Posey .311 22 89
3B Pablo Sandoval .279 16 73
RF Hunter Pence .277 20 74
1B Brandon Belt .243 12 27
LF Travis Ishikawa .252 3 18
SS Brandon Crawford .246 10 69).
STARTING PITCHER W L ERA.
Madison Bumgarner 18 0 2.98
PIRATES
POS. PLAYER AVG. HR RBI
3B Josh Harrison .315 13 52
RF Travis Snider .264 13 38
CF Andrew McCutchen .314 25 83
2B Neil Walker .271 23 76
C Russell Martin .290 11 67
LF Starling Marte .291 13 56
1B Gaby Sanchez .229 7 33
SS Jordy Mercer .255 12 55).
STARTING PTICHER W L ERA.
Edinson Volquez 13 7 3.04.
MATCHUPS These teams met once before in the postseason, with the Pirates winning the 1971 NLCS 3-1 on the way to a World Series title. … The franchises are linked by home run king Barry Bonds. They are the only two tteams he played for. … Pirates won two of three at home against Giants in May and two of three in San Francisco in July. Harrison hit a two-run home run in a 5-0 victory over Bumgarner on July 28. Harrison is 4 for 5 in his career vs. Bumgarner and hit three HRs vs. the Giants this season. … Bumgarner is 1-3 with a 3.24 ERA in four starts vs. the Pirates, with the Giants scoring just one run in those games. … Bumgarner was tied for the major league lead with 11 road victories this season and had a 2.22 ERA in 18 road starts. … Ishikawa was the Pirates’ opening day starter at 1B before being designated for assignment on April 19. … Pence has the most experience hitting off Volquez, batting .194 with 3 HRs and 16 Ks in 36 ABs. … Crawford is 3 for 20 with 7 Ks. … Lopez has allowed two HRs vs left-handed hitters in past five seasons, with one coming against Alvarez in 2012.
BIG PICTURE Giants: After winning the World Series in 2010 and 2012, the Giants (88-74) are hoping to keep up their every-other-year pattern. San Francisco missed the playoffs after each of those championships but is back this season as the second NL wildcard team. … After relying on stellar pitching during those two title runs, the Giants are more balanced this year, finishing fifth in the NL in runs and seventh in ERA. … The Giants went 65-18 when scoring first and 22-56 when allowing the first run. … Workhorse RHP Matt Cain made just 15 starts because of a season-ending elbow injury, and two-time Cy Young Award winner Lincecum was removed from the rotation. … Bumgarner is 3-2 with a 3.79 ERA in seven postseason appearances. He threw seven shutout innings in a World Series win over Detroit in 2012. … Panik is batting .345 since Aug. 4 and provided a big spark with his midseason call-up. … Posey batted .393 in September but was slowed during the final week of the season with a bad back. … The Giants will likely be without two of their starting outfielders. CF Angel Pagan is out for the season with a back injury, and LF Michael Morse is doubtful with a strained oblique. Morse could be available as a pinch hitter. Pirates: McCutchen, the reigning NL MVP, put together another stellar season, but the Pirates (88-74) took off once Harrison started playing regularly. They went 77-66 with the former utility player in the lineup. He finished second to Justin Morneau in the NL batting race. Harrison, who made the All-Star team, tied McCutchen with a team-high 38 doubles. … Volquez signed a $5 million, one-year contract to fill out the back of the rotation and ended up leading the Pirates in starts (32). He went 5-0 with a 1.64 ERA in his final 11 starts. … Volquez did not face San Francisco this year. He is 2-2 with a 5.72 ERA in 11 career starts against the Giants. … The Pirates outscored the Giants 29-23 during the season series. … Pittsburgh’s team OBP of .330 was third in MLB and second in the NL behind the Los Angeles Dodgers. … Watson and Melancon became a potent 1-2 punch after the Pirates traded struggling closer Jason Grilli to the Angels. Melancon was 2-3 with a 1.23 ERA in 28 games after the All-Star break. … Pittsburgh set an attendance record with more than 2.3 million fans at PNC Park. The Pirates went 51-30 at home, tying St. Louis for the best home record in the NL. … Martin put together his finest offensive season since 2007. His goahead, three-run home run in the eighth inning against Milwaukee on Sept. 19 helped the Pirates win a key series. He was even better defensively, throwing out 37 would-be base stealers, most in the majors.