The Pittsburgh Pirates continued their hot west coast trip by beating the San Francisco Giants for the second game in a row and are now 4-1 on this trip. The Bucs won two out of three against the Dodgers last weekend and now have another series win after taking the first two games from the Giants.  The St. Louis Cardinals won beating the Houston Astros 8-5 keeping the Bucs at bay one game back for the second wild card. The Miami Marlins lost to the Reds 6-3 and are now tied with the Pirates.  The Giants are now the first wild card after falling into second place in the National League West with last nights loss and the Los Angeles Dodgers thumping of the Phillies 15-5.  Both the Giants and Cards have played two more games than the Pirates at this point in the season. The Pirates finish the west coast trip this afternoon as they go for a series sweep and a 5-1 road trip before they return home to PNC Park for the beginning of a six game home stand on Friday night against the Miami Marlins. The Bucs will send Ivan Nova to the mound looking for his third consecutive win since being acquired by the Yankees at the trading deadline. Nova is 9-6 with a 4.68 ERA overall on the season and will oppose Matt Cain who is 4-7 with a 5.47 ERA.  First pitch on WBVP/WMBA is scheduled for 3:45 this afternoon with pre-game starting at 3:20 pm.