THE BULLPEN

The Bucs are going all the way, all the way, all the way! Well, this is it. Christmas Day for all the Pittsburgh Pirates fans. Your Pittsburgh Pirates play the NL Wild Card game tonight against the Cincy Reds at PNC Park. It's go time, one and done. These are your keys to tonight's game. 1)I stressed this during the weekend series and feel the need to do so again. Keep Cincy speedster Billy Hamilton off of the basepaths, don't let Cincy's game of bean ball get inside your heads, and don't let Cincy get to closer Aroldis Chapman. Cincy is a mediocre 41-41 on the road this season. The Pirates are 50-31 at PNC. Nothing beats home cooking! 2)Cincy starts RH Johnny Cueto, 5-2, 2.82 ERA. For his career, Cueto is 8-2 with a 1.90 ERA at PNC. The Bucs go with lefty Francisco Liriano, 16-8, 3.02 ERA. Frankie is 8-1 with a 1.47 ERA at home this season. There's no place like home! 3)Frankie held lefthanders to a .131 batting average this year. Cincy has a couple of big lefthanded bats in their lineups. You may have heard of them, a guy named Jay Bruce and some fella named Joey Votto. Mow 'em down Frankie! The Pirates are going to black out the Reds with a super-sized order of Hit, Run & Score! Get ready to raise the Jolly Roger! Let's Go Bucs!!!!!