Pirates must win on road to reach World Series
If the Pirates are going to achieve their goal of winning — on even reaching — the World Series for the first time since 1979, they are going to have to win some postseason games on the road.
The American League champion will have home-field advantage in the World Series by virtue of the AL winning the All-Star Game in July.
The St. Louis Cardinals figure to finish with the best record in the National League and, thus, have home-field advantage in both the NL Division Series and NL Championship Series.
The Pirates even lost a once-firm grip on home-field advantage in the NL wild card game after losing three of four to the Chicago Cubs this past week at PNC Park.
The Pirates, though, have three starting pitchers who perform well on the road, including ace right-hander Gerrit Cole with an 8-5 with a 2.36 ERA in 15 starts away from home. He has also pitched well at home, though, with an 8-3 record and 2.85 ERA in 14 starts.
Left-handers Francisco Liriano and J.A. Happ are also tough on the road.
Liriano was 6-3 with a 2.47 ERA in 12 road starts going into Saturday night’s game against the Dodgers at Los Angeles and 4-4 with a 4.28 ERA in 16 home starts. Happ has a 1.11 ERA on the road and a 2.91 home mark since being acquired July 31 from the Seattle Mariners in a trade.
However, the three other Pirates starters have much better ERAs at home: A.J. Burnett (2.40/4.03), Charlie Morton (3.49/5.17) and lefty Jeff Locke (3.46/5.69)
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The Pirates have a 50-25 home record, marking the third season in a row in which they have had at least 50 victories at PNC Park. It is the first time in franchise history that the Pirates had a streak that long.
The Cardinals are the only major league team with an active streak as long. They have four straight 50-win seasons at Busch Stadium.
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The Pirates’ eight farm clubs, including their entry in the Dominican Summer League, had a combined 447-388 record in the regular season for a .535 winning percentage.
Just three other organizations had better winning percentages: the Houston Astros (.553), Arizona Diamondbacks (.544) and Cubs (.536).