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Giants Vs. Pirates Game 3 Preview: Keeping An Eye On The Closer(s)

So, the San Francisco Giants picked up a big win on Saturday, in the wake of the news that Brian Wilson is likely to be lost for the entirety of the season due to surgery on his elbow. It definitely hurts the Giants, but they survived without him just fine against the Pittsburgh Pirates in game two of a three-game set on Saturday, when the team walked out of AT&T Park with a 4-3 walkoff win. Santiago Casilla handled the pitching duties after Barry Zito was finished through seven, and all in all, it was a very simple affair.

Check off one game without Wilson. Quite a few more to go, but the Giants have the staff to be just fine without him. They're 4-4 on the season now, and are looking to sweep the Pirates in game three. It could be a tough one, though, as they'll be starting Ryan Vogelsong for the first time this season. He's done well in his rehab starts, but who knows what he's going to look like out there?

He'll be up against Kevin Correia for Pittsburgh, who has allowed one run and four hits with three strikeouts and two walks in six innings thus far this season. The Giants are trying to climb above .500 and fully recover from the three-game sweep at the hands of the Arizona Diamondbacks at the start of the season.

The next week should be pretty telling for the Giants. We'll see how Bruce Bochy uses Casilla, Javier Lopez and Sergio Romo to make up for the absence of Wilson, and we'll see if Brandon Belt actually gets some playing time, as opposed to a teasing cameo near the end of Saturday's game.

Game three is set for 1:05 p.m. Pacific on Sunday.