The set-up: Many opined that Pittsburgh's trade deadline moves indicated that the team believed its playoff hopes were slim but on the field, the Pirates are making a strong run at a fourth straight appearance in the NL's wild card game (Pirates have lost that game, each of the last three seasons). Pittsburgh just completed a 5-1 West Coast road trip and returned home (had an off day on Thursday) to open a six-game homestand which begins Friday night against the Marlins. The Pirates' 28-17 record is the best in baseball since June 24 and they sit one game behind St. Louis for the second wild-card spot. The 62-59 Marlins are 1 1/2 games behind the Pirates in that same wild card chase after they dropped a 5-4 decision at Cincinnati on Thursday night.

The pitching matchup: Tom Koehler (9-8, 3.86 ERA) will take the mound for the Marlins with Gerrit Cole (7-8, 3.25 ERA) getting the start for Pittsburgh. Koehler has been the Marlins' best starter of late, going 3-0 with a 1.36 ERA over his last five outings (Miami is). However, it has to worrisome to Miami that he's 0-4 with a 5.73 ERA in four career starts against the Pirates. Cole is 0-2 and has failed to get through the sixth inning in each of his past two starts, allowing nine ERs on 15 hits for an 8.01 ERA. The better news for Pittsburgh is that Cole owns a 2.94 ERA in nine home starts in 2016.

The pick: Miami had hoped to gain some ground (and momentum) with a recently completed 10-game stretch against the struggling Giants plus non-contending teams like the White Sox and Reds, but the Marlins went just 3-7 in that span. They now head to Pittsburgh's PNC park for a three-game weekend series, knowing that they are on a 16-31 run at that venue. The Pirates enter tonight's contest having won four consecutive series and former MVP Andrew McCutcheon is batting .317 in August! The Pirates are an 8* play.