The Pittsburgh Pirates have won three straight series and are right in the middle of the NL Wild Card race.
The Pittsburgh Pirates beat down the Dodgers 11-3 in Los Angeles in the rubber match Sunday. It has been a successful week for the Pirates as they look to keep it rolling as they head to San Francisco for a three-game set.
This series will have a playoff feel to it, as the Giants (66-51) enter the series as the NL West leaders and with the third best record in the National League. The Pirates (59-56) are 1.5 games back of the St. Louis Cardinals for the second wild card spot. Both teams understand how important each series is this time of year as we enter the final 50 games of the season.
Here are three interesting matchups to look out for in this series;
3) Pittsburgh Pirates hitters vs Giants’ Bullpen
Many believe the weakness for this Giants team is their bullpen, and that proved to be costly in Sunday’s loss to the Baltimore Orioles. After Johnny Cueto allowed three runs in 6.2 innings of work, Cueto left the game with the lead. The bullpen was then tagged for five runs, including a Jonathan Schoop 3-run home run off closer Santiago Casilla with two outs in the ninth. The Pirates have had a flare for the dramatics lately, with Sean Rodriguez’s walk-off home run against the Reds and Adam Frazier’s pinch-hit go-ahead run against the Phillies.
The Giants own the 13th best bullpen ERA with a 3.72 and 15th in batting average against with a .243. The Giants bullpen is average at best and the Pirates should be ready to take advantage of that.
2) Jameson Taillon vs Jeff Samardzjia
The second game of the series will feature what most would say is the best starter this season not named Cueto for the San Francisco Giants against the Pirates’ up-and-coming young ace. Jameson Tallion (3-2 2.85 ERA) takes the mound against Jeff Samardzija (10-8 4.23). Tallion is coming off his best start since June, throwing eight scoreless innings against the lowly Padres.
The final game will be an afternoon game featuring Ivan Nova (9-6 4.68 ERA) and Matt Cain (4-7 5.47 ERA). Nova has been fantastic for the Pirates, going 2-0 in his two starts with seven strikeouts and zero walks. Nova faced the Giants on July 23rd with the Yankees, hurling seven innings of one-run baseball while striking out seven. With the Pirates in the middle of a race, consistent pitching by Tallion and Nova will go a long way.
1) Ryan Vogelsong’ vs. his former team
The Pirates will miss out on Giants’ aces Madison Bumgarner and Johnny Cueto in this three-game series. The first game will feature Ryan Vogelsong, who’s spent his entire nine-year career with either the Pirates or Giants. Ryan Vogelsong (1-2 2.67 ERA) will face off against Matt Moore (7-8 3.99 ERA) who is making his 3rd start for the Giants after being dealt to them at the trade deadline.
It will be an emotional game for Vogelsong, who comes back to the city he won two World Series with. Vogelsong has said, “I’m not going to lie to you and tell you I haven’t been thinking about this game all offseason. So I’ve been thinking about it all offseason.” The Giants gave Vogelsong’s career a second chance when they signed him in 2011 after three years in Japan. Vogelsong had an All-Star season in 2011 posting a 13-7 record with a 2.71 ERA. Vogelsong repeated his success in 2012, winning 14 games in the regular season along with Game 3 of the World Series.
The Pittsburgh Pirates are gaining momentum in August and it would be huge if they can come out 4-2 or better against LA and San Fran. After trading closer Mark Melancon, many thought the Pirates were punting the season away. Clint Hurdle wasn’t going to allow that and the Pirates are now in the thick of a playoff race. After a solid weekend in Los Angeles, a big week in San Francisco will prove this Pirates team isn’t going away.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
