By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-All year long, the San Francisco Giants have overcome adversity and in the end their season continues.

Joe Panik scored on an Aaron Barrett wild pitch in the bottom of the seventh inning, as the Giants defeated the Washington Nationals 3-2 before a sellout crowd of 43,464 at AT&TPark.

With the victory, the Giants advance to their third National League Championship Series in the past five years, where they will face the St. Louis Cardinals beginning on Saturday night at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

This will be a rematch of the 2012 NLCS that saw the Giants comeback from a 3-1 deficit to defeat the Cardinals and advance to the World Series, where they would sweep the Detroit Tigers for their second World Series in three years.

By defeating the Nationals and moving on to the NLCS, the Giants have won their last seven postseason series in a row, with their last postseason series loss coming against the Florida Marlins in the 2003 National League Division Series.

Once again, the Giants starting rotation was lights out, as Ryan Vogelsong went 5.2 innings, allowing just one run on just two hits, while walking two and striking out four.

Vogelsong is the first pitcher in Major League postseason history to allow one run or fewer in each of his first five career postseason starts, John Odom and Christy Mathewson each did it in their first four starts.

In the series, the Giants starting rotation went 2-1 with a minuscule 1.04 earned run average, walking just seven and striking out 31 in 34.2 innings.

Pablo Sandoval saw his Giants record14-game hitting streak snapped, as he went hitless in four at-bats.

Panik, who scored the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning, snapped a 0-for-13, as he singled in the bottom of the fifth inning.

The Giants got on board in the board of the second inning, as Gregor Blanco walked with the bases loaded to score Brandon Crawford, who singled to lead off the inning.

Following the Crawford single, Juan Perez reached on a Gio Gonzalez fielding error and Vogelsong dropped a perfect bunt that he beat out to load the bases for Blanco, who walked to force in the first run of the game.

Panik drove in the second run of the game, as he hit a groundball to Adam LaRoche at first and with Gonzalez covering, Perez scored from third base.

Bryce Harper drove in both of the Nationals runs, as he doubled in the top of the fifth inning to score Ian Desmond.

Harper then tied up the game in the top of the seventh inning, as he hit a Hunter Strickland and planted it into McCovey Cove.

It was the 104th Splash Hit since AT&TPark opened in 2000, the third in postseason play and the second by an opposing player.

Harper ended up driving in four of the Nationals nine runs in the series.

With his home run off of Strickland, Harper joins Mickey Mantle, Miguel Cabrera and Andruw Jones as only players to hit four postseason home runs before turning the age of 22.

Harper also joins Cabrera as the only players under the age of 21 or younger to have three home runs in the same series.

Cabrera turned the trick in 2003, as he helped the Florida Marlins onto a victory over the New York Yankees in the World Series.

Hunter Pence made a fantastic leaping catch in the top of the sixth inning, as he leaped into the fencing to make the catch off a ball hit by Jayson Werth.

In the end, Strickland who gave up the home run to Harper ended up getting the victory and Thornton took the loss.

Sergio Romo and Santiago Casilla combined to retire the final six batters, as the Giants to move on to the next round.