The San Francisco Giants are on the brink of reaching their third World Series in five years. That kind of dominance is very rare in baseball and yet here is San Francisco looking to step onto the big stage once again. The Giants need one more win against the St. Louis Cardinals to punch their tickets to a matchup against the Kansas City Royals as they battle at AT&T Park on Thursday.
Madison Bumgarner will take the mound to continue his strong season and get the Giants that one key win they need. The pitcher is 3-1 with a 0.59 ERA in his last four postseason starts while opponents are hitting just .152 off his arm. However, his stats are a bit different when pitching at home. Bumgarner is just 1-3 with a 5.06 ERA in five home postseason games, including a Game 3 loss to the Washington Nationals in the NLDS. That is relatively different from his 4-0 record and 0.55 ERA on the road. He did well in his first game against the Cardinals, giving up four hits in a seven-inning run.
St. Louis will be desperate in this game. They need a win to extend their postseason and getting it against Bumgarner will not be easy. Jon Jay and Matt Carpenter have some success against the pitcher while Matt Holliday and Jhonny Peralta have seriously struggled against Bumgarner. AT&T Park favors the pitcher and Bumgarner is hoping for the same luck.
The Cardinals will put Adam Wainwright on the mound to keep their season alive. The pitcher has been hot and cold, failing to make it past five innings in first two starts. He lost Game 1, giving up three runs and six hits in just over four innings. There are also injury concerns as Wainwright has been dealing elbow discomfort that have caused his mechanics to be off. The pitcher remains the Cardinals best threat to keep their season alive. They just hope that Wainwright can put it all together in this game.
The Cardinals watched the Giants battle back against them in 2012 after the team trailed 1-3. St. Louis is hoping to repeat that kind of success. They will have to deal with the thriving batting lineup of the Giants, but history could be repeated.
Listen online 2014 NLCS Game 5, click here.
