By Morris Phillips
The postseason is here. Madison Bumgarner did his best to remind everybody on Wednesday night.
Bumgarner pitched a 3-0 complete game, shutout of the Mets, and the Giants advanced to the NLDS to face the Cubs with Game 1 slated for Friday. With both teams desperate for offense, Conor Gillaspie provided all that the Giants would need, belting a game-deciding, three-run homer in the eighth.
The Giants’ ace continued his assault on the game’s postseason record book by extending his streak of scoreless innings pitched to 23. Bumgarner also became the first pitcher to win twice in sudden-death playoff games via shutout, duplicating his feat from two years ago, when he went into Pittsburgh and beat the Pirates 8-0 in the wild card game.
But this time, Bumgarner wasn’t alone, joined by the Mets’ Noah Syndergaard in a matchup of power arms that went scoreless for seven innings, the first time two starters had gone so deep in a sudden-death playoff scoreless, since Game 7 of the 1991 World Series.
Throughout Bumgarner was unflappable, just a guy once again giving his team a chance to win on one of the game’s biggest stages. Accordingly, Bum had a tougher time navigating post game questions than he did the Mets’ starting lineup.
“Aint much to say,” Bumgarner managed. “That’s a big game for us right there, and we were fortunate to get some late runs, and we got the win.”
Both pitchers figured to be bears to take down, and they were, in slightly different manners. Bumgarner benefitted greatly from the ease in which he cruised through the first two innings, needing just 14 pitches on a night he would throw 119 pitches, scattering three singles and a double to TJ Rivera. Syndergaard was more devastating, hitting 98 mph on over 40 of his 108 pitches, and carrying a no-hitter into the sixth inning. But Syndergaard would need 23 pitches to get out of the fourth inning, and manager Terry Collins felt his pitcher had expended himself after seven innings of work.
Still Syndergaard joined Tom Seaver, Jacob deGrom and Dwight Gooden as the only Mets to strike out 10 or more in a postseason game.
“I tell you, he stepped up when we needed him,” Collins said of Syndergaard.
For the first seven frames, this classic playoff encounter was equally about Bumgarner and Syndergaard. But in the final two innings when the game was decided, Bumgarner was clearly better than Mets’ relievers Addison Reed and eventual loser, Jeurys Familia.
In the eighth, Reed would allow a hit and walk two batters, escaping a bases loaded situation by striking out Hunter Pence to end the inning. But in the ninth, Familia would allow a leadoff double to Brandon Crawford, sending both managers and teams churning to score or prevent a game-winning run.
After retiring Angel Pagan, then walking Joe Panik, who fouled off several tough pitches, Familia couldn’t retire Gillaspie, who sent the closer’s 1-1 pitch into the bullpen beyond the right field fence.
“We went through such a rough time in the last month and, yes, we didn’t win the division, but I don’t think there is a guy in there that doesn’t believe in each other. What a great opportunity to be part of this,” Gillaspie said.
Gillaspie had only found himself into manager Bruce Bochy’s lineup because of the injury to Eduardo Nunez last week. But given the opportunity, Gillaspie succeeded joining Marco Scutaro, Travis Ishikawa, Barry Zito and others as the team’s unlikely postseason heroes since 2010.
“Pretty much the whole game I was spinning off balls, so I was telling myself to stay in there as much as I could, and trust I could get there,” Gillaspie said.
While the Mets finished the regular season 26-13, the major’s best record over the season’s final 39 games, the Giants limped into the playoffs, winning just 30 of their final 72 games.
The Giants open the NLDS at Wrigley Field in the nightcap of Friday’s quadruple header. Johnny Cueto is expected to start for the Giants in a matchup with Chicago’s Jon Lester.
