As much as most critics and analysts would like to say that the matchup between the St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates is an easy breakdown, nothing about Game One has the makings of anything anyone has ever seen before. The postseason is familiar place for the Cardinals, winners of two World Series since 2006 who were one win away from the chance to make it three in a row in 2012. For the Pirates though, the last time they made the postseason was in 1992 and the only person who is still collecting a paycheck from that roster is Bobby Bonilla, and he’s been retired since the end of the 2001 season. No, nothing is black and white about this series.

To play fair, the Pirates do have a few advantages working in their favor outside of any amazingly electric crowd at PNC Park. Starting pitcher A.J. Burnett has World Series experience, and a ring to go with it. All of his appearances came in 2009 and 2011 with the New York Yankees where he sits at 2-2 with a 5.08 ERA and 31 strikeouts in seven postseason games. Outside of that, Burnett is looking to be in a similar situation that David Price found himself in against the Texas Rangers in the playoff game on Monday, he’s 8-6 with a 4.11 ERA against the Cardinals; however, he’s 1-2 with a 13.50 ERA at New Busch Stadium in three career appearances. Luckily Burnett has hot bats who can help him get out of a few jams if needed. Marlon Byrd has been an incredible acquisition for the Pirates batting .318 with three home runs and 17 RBI during the regular season as well as his two-run home run against the Cincinnati Reds in the Wild Card playoff game on Tuesday. Aside from his solid 3-4 with two home runs game himself, Russell Martin is a career .283 hitter against the Cardinals and has gone yard four times in New Busch Stadium in 19 games. All of this along with National League MVP favorite Andrew McCutchen and the always-powerful Pedro Alvarez could make for an unexpected showing.

On the other side of the diamond Adam Wainwright is hard to bet against. A two-time World Series winner and top-three candidate for the 2013 NL Cy Young, Wainwright is 9-4 with a 4.81 ERA against the Pirates in 22 appearances; however, in all three appearances against the Bucs in 2013 he notched one win, two no decisions and gave up seven earned runs in 21 innings of work. The Chicago Cubs and the Reds were the only two teams to tax Wainwright for more runs. On offense the Cardinals are stacked. Matt Holliday, Jon Jay and Carlos Beltran are all hitting .297 or better against the Pirates just in 2013, all of which consist of 19 games for Jay and Holliday and 17 for Beltran. The only outlier for the Cardinals in this matchup is that their captain, Yadier Molina, batted .173 in 14 games against the Pirates.

While it seems that all of the cards are playing in the favor of the Cardinals in this first matchup, it’s really still up in the air. The Cardinals have been on ice since the last day of the regular season in which they finished on a six-game win streak against the Washington Nationals and the Cubs. The Pirates on the other hand swept the Reds in the last games of the regular season and went on to continue the bashing in their Wild Card matchup. With momentum being a factor it’s hard to go against the Pirates and Burnett who won his last two starts of the regular season, both of which were against the Reds. Wainwright won his last three starts as well so it becomes a bit of coin flip again. It’s not likely that the Cardinals will lose Game One, but crazier things have happened.