Tonight at 8 p.m. ET, the San Francisco Giants and Pittsburgh Pirates clash in the National League Wild-Card Game live from PNC Park in Pittsburgh. The game can be live streamed for free here. San Francisco fans can hear all of the action on KNBR 680 while Pittsburgh fans can do the same on KDKA 93.7.
San Francisco has made the playoffs for the third time in the last five seasons with the other two appearances seeing them win the World Series while Pittsburgh comes into the postseason for the second consecutive season after ending their 20-year drought a season ago.
The Giants finished with an 88-74 record and in second place in the NL West while the Pirates finished with the same mark and in second place in the NL Central. The Pirates topped the Cincinnati Reds 3-2 in last year's NL Wild-Card Game.
Madison Bumgarner (18-10, 2.98 ERA) toes the rubber for San Francisco while Pittsburgh counters with Edinson Volquez, who went 13-7 with a 3.08 ERA this season.
While this is a must-win for both teams with a chance to play the Washington Nationals in the NLDS hanging in the balance, NL MVP-candidate Andrew McCutchen said he'll approach this game like any other.
"That's the way I play all the time -- to win," McCutchen said, according to MLB.com. "We have to treat it like any other game that we're going out having to win."
McCutchen ranked first in the MLB this season with a .410 on-base percentage and third with a .952 slugging percentage while he finished third in the NL with a .314 batting average and led the Pirates with 25 homers and 83 RBI.
Josh Harrison also had a big year for Pittsburgh, ranking second in the NL with a .315 batting average and adding 13 homers and 52 RBI.
The Pirates bats have a tough task against Bumgarner, who ranked fourth in the NL with his 18 wins and 219 strikeouts this season.
The Giants are also taking a simple approach to this win-or-go-home game.
"Once you get on the field, it's just the game of baseball," said Giants outfielder Hunter Pence per MLB.com. "But it's a new team, a new year. With experience, you know how to handle your emotions. You know what's going to be there. It's exciting, but, really, it's a new day and every day is a new day."
Pence has been a big spark for San Francisco this season, ranking second in the NL in runs (106) and triples (10-tied), third in hits (180) and fourth in total bases (289).
Catcher Buster Posey has also been a force on the Giants as he finished fourth in the league with a .311 average and led the team with 22 homers and 89 RBI.
A trip to the NLDS and a meeting with the Washington Nationals is on the line when the Giants and Pirates take the field tonight at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.
Prediction: This can very much go either way as Volquez has been hot as of late, the Pirates have home-field advantage and the duo of McCutchen and Harrison is potent while Bumgarner has had an amazing year for the Giants, San Francisco thrives in elimination games and Posey has had a heck of a season. In the end, Bumgarner will stand tall and help the Giants advance to the NLDS.
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