Game time: 8:15PM ET
Probable starters:
PIT: Ryan Vogelsong (3-7, 5.00 ERA)
MIL: Adam Wainwright (13-9, 4.67 ERA)
Adam Wainwright knows how it feels to pitch in pressure-packed games. He has started 12 times in the postseason, but the Cardinals will need him to step up in order to get there as he faces the Pirates in the final game of the regular season on Sunday.
St. Louis sits one game back of San Francisco for the second National League Wild Card spot with one game to play. If the Cardinals and Giants tie for the second Wild Card spot, the tiebreaker game would be Monday in St. Louis.
"I knew it would come down to the last day. It always does," Wainwright said. "Tomorrow is going to be no different for me. I take every start very, very seriously. I prepare every start the exact same. I'll be very prepared and very ready tomorrow."
Wainwright has a 4.07 ERA over four starts in 24 1/3 innings against the Pirates this season, with two wins. A start at Busch Stadium plays to his benefit with a 3.21 ERA at home, almost three runs lower than his road mark (6.18) in two more starts away from St. Louis. He has also allowed 30 fewer earned runs and 14 fewer home runs at Busch Stadium this season.
Wainwright holds a 5.46 ERA in September, with opponents batting .331 against him. He hasn't gotten out of the sixth inning in four of five September starts, but he has won four starts in a month for the second time this season.
"This is what we live for as competitors," Wainwright said. "The big games…The big starts like this for me? I'll remember these for the rest of my life."
Cardinals left fielder Brandon Moss has experience with Game 162 carrying postseason weight. He was part of the 2012 A's team that beat the Rangers on the final day of the regular season to win the American League West by one game.
"We didn't have anything to lose that day," Moss said. "We were the team that was kind of written off that year, and we came in excited and we put it on them. I think us being the trailers is kind of similar with the same situation. We're trying to get in and we're not playing with anything to lose. We've already put ourselves in the back-against-the-wall situation."
The Pirates will call on starter Ryan Vogelsong, who has made two appearances (one start) against the Cardinals this season, totaling 4 1/3 innings and allowing five runs on eight hits with two home runs.
Three things to know about this game
• Cardinals hitters are batting a combined .278 against Vogelsong. Matt Carpenter leads the lineup at .412 (7-for-17) with a 1.062 OPS against the righty.
• The Pirates are completing their first losing season since 2012, when they had their 20th straight campaign under .500 -- 79 wins would match their total from that season. If the Bucs finish with 78 wins, it'd be their lowest since '11 (72 wins).
• Jedd Gyorko has hit a home run in three consecutive games. The Cardinals lead the NL with 224 home runs, 24 of which have come against the Pirates. They are 72-45 when they hit at least one home run.
My notes:
- I nearly didn't do one last game thread for the season as I'm just so disgusted with these fucking clowns.
- I do have a little hope for the starting rotation as I think Cole, Taillon, Kuhl, Glasnow and maybe Brault may somehow pan out. I hope Nova comes back, but who knows? I do agree with Jeemie that they need that veteran hurler on the staff, but not sure who he'll be. Here's hoping Nova and the FO work something out.
- They definitely need to look at all options and that includes trading Cutch. His subpar season, along with many others tanking, were a big reason the Bucs will finish under .500 for the first time since 2012. Those players all should be ashamed of themselves. I'm not sure they are.
- As I said in a previous thread, it's a team stink from Nutting on down to the foul ball girls at PNC. No Hurdle is not immune, but I think there are different levels of blame. For instance, Nutting and Huntington get far more blame than Clint in my view because of their off season failures. With everything that went bad this season, and there was quite a bit, this team was still in the playoff hunt just two weeks ago. I think you've got to give the coaching staff some love for that. However, you definitely have to hit them for this team's lack of basic fundamentals at times, whether its fielding, baserunning, love to the bunt, etc.
- The bullpen needs to be fixed or turn things around or whatever. All I know if that they were a clusterfuck the entire year. Melancon was the only bright spot really, and he was dealt away for two schmucks. Sorry guys, Rivero SUCKS and SUCKS BAD. The other guy is in West Virginia or Altoona I think. Hell I don't remember his name.
- Looking forward to the Pens threads dominating this forum again. There's a franchise that actually gives a shit about winning. But hoka hey, ain't PNC a beautiful ball park?
http://m.mlb.com/news/article/201610012 ... _pk=449294
BEAT 'EM BUCS!!!
