National League Championship Series
Game 4 - San Francisco leads series 2-1
First pitch: Wednesday, 8:05 p.m. ET
Line: St. Louis -105, San Francisco -105, Total: 7

The Cardinals attempt to even up the NLCS on Wednesday night at two games apiece with a victory on the road versus the Giants.

St. Louis had another great year, as the club reached the NLCS for the fourth time in as many seasons and has played some nail-biters so far in the 2014 playoffs. No games have been decided by more than three runs, as the Cards have been part of four one-run contests, including a tough 5-4 loss in 10 innings on Tuesday night. A throwing error is what did them in at the end, as they tallied nine hits, including a homer from OF Randal Grichuk. Meanwhile, 3B Matt Carpenter did not homer like he has done four times in these playoffs while being responsible for 8 RBI. San Francisco has also played plenty of close games in the postseason with five of its eight games being decided by a mere run while the club used timely hitting (2-for-3 with RISP) to gain an early edge in the 5-4 win. One of those hits came off the bat of 3B Pablo Sandoval, who has a hit in all but one playoff game this year while scoring six runs. The pitching matchup for this contest will peg RHP Shelby Miller (0-0, 3.18 ERA) of the visiting Cardinals up against RHP Ryan Vogelsong (0-0, 1.59 ERA) for the host Giants. Tuesday’s road loss dropped St. Louis’ record away from home this year to 40-45 (.471) while San Francisco has gone 48-37 (.565) by the bay. Over the past three seasons, the Giants hold a slight edge (16-14) in this matchup while being 8-6 at home in that timeframe. On the injury front, C Yadier Molina (oblique) is questionable for Game 4 after not playing on Tuesday for St. Louis, while both OF Angel Pagan (back) and 2B Marco Scutaro (back) remain out for the duration of the season.

Shelby Miller has been an interesting pitcher to watch this season as his strikeout rate dropped from a solid 8.8 K/9 in 2013 to a below average 6.3 K/9 this year. He has also seen his control fall off while walking 3.6 batters per nine innings and allowing a career-high rate of homers (1.08 HR/9). Miller pitched fine in the NLDS against the Dodgers, throwing 5.2 frames while allowing two runs on five hits with four strikeouts (3 walks), and overall is 0-0 with a 4.50 ERA and 1.40 WHIP over his four career postseason games (1 start). San Francisco has never given him any issues, as he is 2-0 with a 1.46 ERA and 1.22 WHIP in the matchup, while recording 11 strikeouts in 12.1 IP (8.0 K/9). No batter on the opposing ballclub has faced Miller more than six times, with both OF Travis Ishikawa (1-for-2) and OF Hunter Pence (1-for-5) having a solo home run in the matchup. Meanwhile, 1B Brandon Belt, OF Gregor Blanco and C Buster Posey are a mere 1-for-16 (.063) combined against the 24-year-old. The relievers for St. Louis are 29-26 (.527) with a 3.56 ERA and have successfully saved 58-of-76 (76%) games. Closer Trevor Rosenthal (4.91 ERA, 3 saves) has allowed seven hits in his 3.2 postseason frames after giving up far too many walks (5.4 BB/9) in the regular season.

Ryan Vogelsong was an important piece to the Giants 2014 season as he dropped his ERA nearly two runs from his poor 2013 campaign. Part of his success came from an improved strikeout rate (7.4 K/9) while managing a career-low walk rate (2.8 BB/9). He also was solid at not allowing homers (0.88 HR/9), and looked good in his first round game against the Nationals with a pitching line of 5.2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER and 4 K's. He has always done well in the postseason, going 3-0 with a 1.19 ERA over five career starts. Against the Cardinals, Vogelsong is a poor 2-6 with a 6.17 ERA and 1.60 WHIP while allowing seven homers in his 65.2 frames. Both 3B Matt Carpenter (5-for-10) and 2B Mark Ellis (8-for-21) have been successful against the veteran, while 1B Matt Adams and 2B Kolten Wong are hitless in their five at-bats in the matchup. The bullpen for St. Louis has gone 36-15 (.706) with a 2.95 ERA while saving 50-of-69 (72%) games. Closer Santiago Casilla (0.00 ERA, 3 saves) has been perfect in his five postseason innings thus far while striking out three batters.