No matter how good they are in the regular season when the San Francisco Giants get into the postseason, they're always a tough team to beat.
Playing in their second NL Wild Card game in the past three years, the Giants were victorious yet again, defeating the New York Mets 3-0. The Giants have won the World Series in the last three even years, taking home the hardware in 2010, 2012, and 2014. Though they never surpassed 94 wins or had the best regular season record in the National League those three years, the team always seems to click when it matters most.
Pitcher's Duel
When Madison Bumgarner and Noah Syndergaard toe the rubber for their respective teams, fans can expect a low-scoring pitcher's duel. The two pitchers were two of the best in the National League this past season, and will certainly be in the running for the NL Cy Young.
A pitcher's duel is exactly what the fans got.
Syndergaard was phenomenal for the Mets, finishing seven innings yielding just two hits, three walks, and no runs while striking out ten. "Thor's" overpowering fastball had Giants hitters fooled all night, as the Giants had a tough time squaring the ball up.
Syndergaard did not allow a baserunner through the first three innings, striking out five of the first nine hitters he faced. In the fourth, Syndergaard walked Denard Span to give the Giants their first baserunner of the night, but Span was thrown out attempting to steal second base on a play that would be reviewed but would stand.
In the sixth inning, the Giants had their biggest chance of the night to strike against Syndergaard. Span reached base for the second time of the night with a two-out single and stole second base to give the Giants their first runner in scoring position of the game. This brought up Brandon Belt, one of the Giants' best hitters. Belt smoked a high sinker from Syndergaard, but Curtis Granderson made a terrific running catch near the warning track to keep the game scoreless.
Syndergaard escaped more trouble in the seventh, as he got Joe Panik to ground out after Brandon Crawford and Angel Pagan reached base with two away, ending Syndergaard's terrific night.
But unfortunately for Syndergaard, he was matched up with one of the best postseason pitchers of all time, Madison Bumgarner.
Bumgarner breezed through the Mets order in the first three innings, needing just 21 pitches to leave the home team scoreless.
New York's first extra-base hit of the night came in the fifth when T.J. Rivera opened up the inning with a leadoff double. However, as he always seems to do in the postseason, Bumgarner escaped danger, as Jay Bruce struck out, Rene Rivera grounded out, and Syndergaard struck out to terminate the inning.
Bumgarner continued to roll past the Mets quickly, as he needed just eight pitches in the seventh inning to keep New York scoreless.
Late Game Heroics
Mets manager Terry Collins turned to his bullpen in the eighth inning, as Syndergaard finished with 108 pitches. Addison Reed got the call to pitch the eighth inning and ran into immediate trouble. Conor Gillaspie singled to open up the frame and advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Bumgarner, his first of the year. This brought up the top of the Giants' order with a runner on second base with just one away, but Span popped out for the second out. Brandon Belt followed and worked a 7-pitch walk to bring up Buster Posey with two away and with two runners on. However, on the first pitch, both runners advanced a base on a passed ball by Rene Rivera, which led Reed to intentionally walk Posey to load the bases for Hunter Pence. Reed threw Pence four fastballs and struck him out to keep the game tied.
In the bottom half of the eighth, Ty Kelly singled with one away off Bumgarner, but the Mets were unable to advance him.
Collins turned to his closer Jeurys Familia in the ninth, a decision that would come back to bite him. In the Giants' three World Series runs this decade, there has always been an unexpected contributor who led them to victory. This year, it could be Conor Gillaspie. Filling in for the injured all-star Eduardo Nuñez, Gillaspie smoked a three-run homer with one away to give the Giants a 3-0 lead. Gillaspie had just six home runs during the regular season, but hit a clutch one when it mattered most.
Bruce Bochy elected to keep Bumgarner on the mound in the ninth inning, and he set down the Mets in order to cap off a complete game shutout. Bumgarner pitched nine scoreless innings, surrendering just four hits and two walks while striking out six.
For Bumgarner, his impressive stats in the postseason continue. In his postseason career, Bumgarner improves to an impressive 8-3 with a 1.94 ERA and a 0.863 WHIP. Opponents are now 0-24 against Bumgarner in postseason play with a runner in scoring position, and Wednesday was his sixth career postseason start without allowing a run, tying Tom Glavine for the most of all time. Simply incredible.
Coming Up
The Giants move on to the NLDS, where they will face the Chicago Cubs, winners of 102 games during the regular season. Johnny Cueto will take the mound in game one against Jon Lester.