At this point the math is easy: the Pirates’ magic number is two. That means that if the Pirates win and the Brewers lose tonight, the wild card race is over for the Pirates and they’ll be the fourth National League team to clinch a playoff spot. If you assume that the Cardinals are not going to collapse this week (and this doesn’t seem likely), this step is the single most important part of the Pirates’ final six games. Home field in the Wild Card Game would be nice, but clinching as early as possible lets the Pirates do whatever they need to do to set the rotation up for next Wednesday’s game. I say let’s get it over with tonight; I bet if the Pirates win, the Brewers will be more than accommodating at this point.
Anyway, that’s all I have to say about tonight. I’d love to see a second big start in a row out of Gerrit Cole, since the Pirates need more reliable pitching for October. Alex Wood starts for the Braves. He and Cole faced each other on the day that Cole came off of the disabled list and the Pirates made a late rally to end their seven-game losing streak and start the playoff push that could officially culminate in at least a wild card tonight. That would be some nice symmetry.
First pitch is at 7:05.
