My predictions record for the regular season finished at 16-6 with 3 straight correct picks to end the season. You can see my previous picks here. On Wednesday night the NL Wild Card game will be played between the Giants and Pirates.
2014 NL Wild Card Game: San Francisco Giants (88-74) @ Pittsburgh Pirates (88-74)
On Wednesday night the San Francisco Giants and the Pittsburgh Pirates square off in the NL Wild Card match-up with the winner advancing to play in the NLDS series versus the Washington Nationals. The San Francisco Giants finished the regular with an 88-74 record and in 2nd place in the NL West. The Giants closed out the season by winning 3 of their last 4 games (after losing 5 of 6 prior to that). They were victorious 9-3 in their finale at home versus the Padres on Sunday. On offense the team is led by catcher Bustery Posey. Posey leads the team in batting average (.311), home runs (22), rbi’s (89), on base % (.364), and slugging % (.490). The pitching staff is led by lefty starter Madison Bumgarner. Bumgarner has an 18-10 record with a 2.98 era and 219 strikeouts in 217.1 innings pitched. After recording a win in 5 straight starts he’s just 0-1 in his last 2 starts. He was saddled with the loss in his last outing, a start on September 23rd at the Dodgers, he pitched 7.1 innings while giving up 4 earned runs on 6 hits. He’ll be the Giants starter on Wednesday. The Pittsburgh Pirates also finished the regular season with an 88-74 record and 2nd place in the NL Central. They finished only 2 games behind the division winning Cardinals. The Pirates dropped their last 2 games. In the 2 games they were outscored 14-7. On offense the team is led by center-fielder Andrew McCutchen. McCutchen leads the team in home runs (25), rbi’s (83), on base % (.410), slugging % (.542) and runs (89). The pitching staff is led by right-handed starter Edinson Volquez. Volquez has a 13-7 record with a 3.04 era and 140 strikeouts in 192.2 innings pitched. In his last 10 starts of the season he was 5-0. In those 10 starts he allowed one earned run or less in 7 games. He had 5 or more strikeouts in 9 of the 10 starts. He’ll be the Pirates starter on Wednesday.
The Pirates were 4-2 versus the Giants during the regular season. The Pirates outscored the Giants 29-23 in the 6 games. The Giants finished 43-38 on the road this season. The Pirates finished 51-30 at home this season.
Giants vs Pirates Prediction
Logic tells me the Giants can win this game because of their playoff experience but looking at how well Vazquez has pitched the last few months tells me he just might be able to shut down the Giants. I also have to consider the Pirates excellent home record this season (tied for 2nd best home record in the majors).
Take the Pirates -102 (Bovada.lv)
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