Game 51: Pirates at Giants

Pittsburgh continues its West Coast road trip in San Francisco. The Pirates split the four game series with the Padres this past weekend.
Probable starters: Gerrit Cole (7-2, 2.11) vs. Ryan Vogelsong (4-2, 4.24)
Game preview:
http://m.mlb.com/news/article/201505...game_pk=414418
"y Barry M. Bloom / MLB.com | + 4 COMMENTS
The Pirates travel north from San Diego to meet the Giants in a three-game rematch of 2014 Wild Card opponents at AT&T Park that begins Monday night.
Gerrit Cole (7-2, 2.11) is slated to start against Ryan Vogelsong (4-2, 4.24) in a battle of right-handers.
It is the first time the teams are meeting this season and the third time in his career Cole has faced the Giants, but the first in San Francisco. He's 2-0 with a 3.14 ERA against them, winning twice in PNC Park.
Vogelsong has enjoyed a recent renaissance, of sorts. After opening the season with two losses in his first five outings, Vogelsong ended April with a 9.31 ERA. Since then, he's won four of his last five starts, allowing only four earned runs in May. His ERA in the span dropped more than five runs to 4.24.
Three things to know abut this game:
• The Giants bullpen has been so effective this season that they were 25-0 when leading after eight innings before Santiago Casilla blew the lead and the game to Atlanta in the ninth inning at home Sunday.
• The Pirates string of 10 consecutive quality starts ended Sunday against the Padres with left-hander Jeff Locke being pelted for six runs in the opening three innings. Coming into the game they were 8-0 with a 2.06 ERA and 73 strikeouts during that run. Their last eight victories have all been credited to the starters.
• Giants second baseman Joe Panik has hit safely in 14 consecutive home games and is batting .321 (17-for-53) during that span. He has knocked in 11 runs in the past 12 games, including a two-run homer on Sunday, his fourth of the season.
Barry M. Bloom is a national reporter for MLB.com and writes an MLBlog, Boomskie on Baseball. Follow @boomskie on Twitter. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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