St. Louis @ San Francisco preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 14, 2014 ) St. Louis 4, San Francisco 5

The teams have traded 5-4 walk-off victories over the last two games and that leaves St. Louis in dire need of a victory when the Cardinals visit the San Francisco Giants in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series on Wednesday. The Giants moved ahead 2-1 on Tuesday when a throwing error by St. Louis reliever Randy Choate after fielding a bunt allowed Brandon Crawford to score the winning run. The Cardinals have hit five homers in the series and San Francisco has none.

Crawford said part of the Giants’ success in the postseason comes from limiting the stress on the team. “I think that’s a big reason why we do well in the postseason – is we don’t put a whole lot of pressure on ourselves,” Crawford said in a press conference after Game 3. “We go out there and have fun and play our game, almost like it’s a regular-season game.” St. Louis second baseman Kolten Wong had a two-run triple in Game 3, two days after hitting the walk-off homer to win Game 2.

TV: 8:07 p.m. ET, Fox Sports 1

PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Shelby Miller (0-0, 3.18 ERA) vs. Giants RH Ryan Vogelsong (0-0, 1.59)

Miller is making his second career postseason start and he felt heavy anxiety prior to the first against the Los Angeles Dodgers. “Even with that one start under your belt, you’re starting in a hectic environment in San Francisco,” Miller said at his press conference. “They’ve got great fans that are loud and know baseball and love their team but at the same time, yeah, the first one definitely helps.” Miller is 2-0 with a 1.46 ERA in two career starts against San Francisco but didn’t face the Giants this season.

Vogelsong felt he got away from what he does best late in the season and has used some of the downtime in the postseason to get his mechanics back in order. “I got a little away from being how I wanted to be at the end of the season and it affected my command and velocity,” Vogelsong said at his press conference. “I felt like there were some things that I really needed to clean up and took advantage of it on the time off.” Vogelsong is 2-6 with a 6.17 ERA in 19 career appearances (nine starts) against the Cardinals and went 0-1 with a 4.05 ERA in two 2014 turns against St. Louis.

WALK-OFFS

1. Cardinals C Yadier Molina (oblique) is reportedly considering a cortisone injection in an attempt to play in Game 4.

2. San Francisco LF Travis Ishikawa had a three-run double in Game 3 and is 4-for-8 in the series.

3. St. Louis 3B Matt Carpenter, who has four homers in the postseason, is 5-for-10 against Vogelsong.

PREDICTION: Cardinals 4, Giants 3