Why Home-Field Advantage Will Help the Pittsburgh Pirates in NL Wild Card Game

The day has come for the Pittsburgh Pirates as they get set to square off in the highly anticipated National League Wild Card Game against the San Francisco Giants Wednesday night in Pittsburgh.  

Key words: in Pittsburgh.  

The Pirates have been dominant at home over the last few seasons, and that may play a huge role in the outcome of this game.  

Since the start of the 2013 season, the Pirates are 102-60 in regular-season games played in Pittsburgh. Their 51-30 home record in 2014 was tied with the Washington Nationals and St. Louis Cardinals for second-best in the league.  

During the 2013 postseason, the Pirates won two out of three games played in their own ballpark.  

While home-field advantage does not always lead to victories for ballclubs in October, the Pirates have played much better at home than on the road.  

Catcher Russell Martin is very fond of the advantage the fans in Pittsburgh give the team while playing at PNC Park.  

In the 2013 National League Wild Card Game against the Cincinnati Reds, Pirates fans were louder than ever and distracted pitcher Johnny Cueto.  

For those who missed it last October, here is what happened: 

After that game, Martin credited the passionate fans at the ballpark.  

"I don't know what was going on in his mind, in his head at that point," Martin said, according to John Perrotto of USA Today Sports. "Definitely felt like the crowd had an impact on his psyche a little bit. Kind of lost rhythm for a little bit."

The fans in Pittsburgh are one rowdy bunch, and they are just as hungry for a deep postseason run as the Pirates organization and players are.  

Since the All Star break in mid-July, the Pirates have one 22 of 32 games at home, which equates to a .688 winning percentage.  

Starting pitcher Edinson Volquez will take the mound for the Pirates tonight.  The 31-year-old veteran is coming off a memorable regular season in which he went 13-7 with a 3.04 ERA.  

John Bazemore/Associated Press

Volquez has been great at home as well in 2014, going 8-5 with a 3.06 ERA.  Since August, Volquez is 3-0 with just four earned runs in 34.2 innings pitched, an ERA of just 1.04 over that span.  

The Giants will counter with ace starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner, who went 18-10 with a 2.98 ERA in 2014.  

Bumgarner has actually pitched much better on the road than at home this season.  In 15 starts at home, he is 7-6 with a 4.03 ERA.  On the road, he is 11-4 with a 2.22 ERA in 18 games.  

Although the sample size is minimal, Bumgarner has not fared well against Pittsburgh in his career, going 1-3 in four starts.  

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

His worst start against the Pirates came this season, when he allowed five earned runs in four innings on July 28 in San Francisco.  

Will we see Pirates fans roaring and making more noise than ever tonight in Pittsburgh?  That is likely.  

Will Bumgarner get rattled like Cueto did in the 2013 Wild Card Game?  That is to be determined tonight.

For now, what we do know is that the Pirates have been one of the best teams at home this season while the Giants were ranked eighth in the majors with a 43-38 record on the road in 2014.  

Tonight, the Pirates and their fans will look to hand the Giants their 39th road loss on the season, as this one game will decide the fate of both teams.  

Statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.