Preview: Giants at Pirates in NL wild

Edinson Volquez (l.) and Madison Bumgarner will start the 2014 NL wild-card game. (USATSI) San Francisco Giants at Pittsburgh Pirates, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 8:07 p.m. E.T. TV: ESPN

For the second straight year, the NL wild-card game will be playing in Pittsburgh's PNC Park. The Pirates knocked the Reds out of the postseason last year and this year they'll look to do the same to the Giants, a much more formidable foe in terms of postseason experience.

The most notable recent historical connection between these two teams is the defection of Barry Bonds. He left the Pirates as a free agent to sign with the Giants in 1993. Does that matter in the wild-card game? Not one bit.

Pitching matchup: Madison Bumgarner (18-10, 2.98) vs. Edinson Volquez (13-7, 3.04)

Bumgarner vs. Pirates hitters: Bumgarner made one start against the Pirates this year and he got hammered, allowing five runs on six hits and two walks in four innings on July 28. That game was played in AT&T Park and it was the only time in his final 15 starts that Bumgarner did not complete six full innings of work.

Current Pirates' position players have combined to hit .268/.312/.341 with two home runs in 95 plate appearances against San Francisco's left-handed ace. Reigning NL MVP Andrew McCutchen has not had much luck against Bumgarner (2-for-10) but Russell Martin (3-for-7), Jordy Mercer (3-for-7), Gaby Sanchez (3-for-9) and Neil Walker (3-for-9) have all had some success in limited samples.

Leadoff man and third baseman Josh Harrison has owned Bumgarner in their relatively short careers, going 4-for-5 with a home run and walk. Expect to see lefty hitters Ike Davis and Gregory Polanco glued to the bench to start the wild-card game -- they're a combined 0-for-5 with four strikeouts against MadBum.

Bumgarner is 3-2 with a 3.79 ERA in 35 2/3 career postseason innings spread across six starts and one relief appearance. All of those numbers came during the Giants' 2010 and 2012 World Series runs.

Volquez vs. Giants hitters: I'm sure the Pirates would rather have Gerrit Cole or Francisco Liriano starting this game, but neither lines up to pitch Wednesday, so Volquez it is. He did not start against San Francisco this season.

Volquez is no stranger to the Giants -- he spent the 2012-13 seasons with the NL West rival Padres and Dodgers. The Giants' hitters have a combined .283/.355/.428 batting line with four homers in 174 career plate appearances against the enigmatic right-hander. Hunter Pence has hit three of those homers, though he is only 7-for-36 (.194) against Volquez overall.

Pablo Sandoval (.462/.462/.692), Brandon Belt (.444/.444/.667) and Buster Posey (.556/.583/.778) have all had their way with Volquez over the years. On the other hand, Brandon Crawford (.150/.150/.150) has been helpless. Gregor Blanco has been okay (.263/.364/.263).

In his only career postseason start, Volquez allowed four runs in 1 2/3 innings for the Reds in the 2010 NLDS against the Phillies. That was a long time.

Regular season series: The Pirates and Giants met six times this year and the Buccos won two of three in both series. They were close games though -- two of the six were one-run games and three others were two-run games. The other was a 5-0 blowout, if you consider that a blowout.

What to watch

* The PNC Park crowd. Last year's NL wild-card game was memorable not so much for the game itself, but for the never-ending 'Cuuueeettttooo! Cuuueeetttooo!' chants from the Pirates fans that obviously rattled Johnny Cueto. Bumgarner's lucky his name isn't easily tauntable (Maaadison, Maaadison?), but, either way, expect the crowd to be a factor based on last postseason.

* Tim Lincecum. The two-time Cy Young award winner pitched his way out of the rotation and into a bullpen role earlier this year, a role he thrived in during San Francisco's run to the 2012 World Series. Lincecum has shown he's a bit of an adrenaline junkie and he could become a big factor in the middle innings -- or extra innings, for that matter -- of the wild-card game.

* Starling Marte. Marte quietly had a monster second half, hitting .348/.408/.567 (180 OPS+) with eight home runs in 52 games. He also hit .303/.354/.427 (121 OPS+) against southpaws this season. Marte is a two-way threat with center field caliber defense in left field and he's hot right now. He matches up well against a lefty like Bumgarner.

Prediction: The pitching matchup is a reverse lock -- Volquez outpitches Bumgarner as McCutchen, Martin and Marte have big nights for Pittsburgh. The Pirates return to the NLDS on the heels of a 7-2 win.

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