Both the Pittsburgh Pirates and the San Francisco Giants are sitting second in their respective division, with the first place well within reach. The Pirates have won two of the first three in this four-game series, but I like the Giants chances of recording an upset in the series-finale tonight.

Here are my keys to the game:

1. Pitching - The Pirates hand the ball to Francisco Liriano (8-6, 3.35 ERA) who's undefeated over his last nine starts. He has posted a 5.82 ERA in his last four starts though and was torched for five runs on six hits and three walks in seven innings at home against Arizona his most recent outing. The left-hander is 3-1 with a 3.75 ERA in four career starts against San Francisco, but the current Giants' have a .288 batting average over 80 at bats against him and their .268 average against lefties is one of the best in baseball this season. The Giants will counter with Ryan Vogelsong (9-8, 3.93 ERA) who's been excellent in his three starts since rejoining the rotation. allowing just four runs on 11 hits and six walks over 15 frames. He's held opponents to a .196 batting average in that span.

2. Runline Warriors - The Giants are 5-10 on the road in August, but 6 of those 10 losses have come in games decided by just one run. They're 38-26 against the runline away from home over the season while the Pirates are 27-36 against the runline home at PNC Park.

3. X-Factor - Buster Posey is 5-for-11 in previous meetings with Liriano.

Selection: This is a play on the San Francisco Giants +1.5.