Major League Baseball

Bumgarner, Crawford help Giants slay another NL Central foe

Published Oct. 2, 2014 1:16 a.m. ET

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PITTSBURGH — National League Central teams want nothing to do with the San Francisco Giants.

Two years ago, the Giants lost the first two games of the Division Series at AT&T Park against the Reds before going to Cincinnati and winning the last three. Then in the NLCS, the Giants faced a 3-1 deficit to the Cardinals before running off three in row, including the last two in St. Louis.

So when it came to Wednesday's Wild Card Game at raucous PNC Park vs. the Pirates, the Giants felt right at home, cruising to an 8-0 victory to advance to the NLDS to face top-seeded Washington.

"Sure, it's a shootout, a do-or-die situation, but these guys have been there before. I think that experience came into play today," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "All you want is a chance. We said that when we got to this game."

San Francisco won a seventh consecutive elimination game as starter Madison Bumgarner shut down the Pirates while shortstop Brandon Crawford emerged as the unlikely offensive hero.

Bumgarner pitched his first complete game in the postseason while Crawford supplied the decisive blow in the fourth with a grand slam off Pirates starter Edinson Volquez

Bumgarner came with plenty of postseason experience, entering Wednesday's contest with a 3-2 record and a 3.79 ERA in seven playoff appearances (six starts). He started two World Series games, winning both, pitching three-hit ball over eight scoreless innings vs. Texas in 2010, and yielding just two hits in seven scoreless innings vs. Detroit in 2012.

But this was his first start in an elimination game. It didn't faze the 25-year-old though as he struck out 10 and allowed just four hits while walking one. The left-hander threw 109 pitches with 79 going for strikes.

"I just tried to get rid of all that," Bumgarner said of pitching in an elimination game. "It was just me and catcher Buster (Posey) making pitches. Both of us did a good job of pushing it aside.

"Usually when you get amped up, it don't turn out so well. As much fun as it is, it's better for the team to remain calm."

Getting out to big leads is nothing new for Baumgarner, who had the second-most run support in the NL in the regular season. He got ahead early with his fastball and also was effective in mixing in the curveball.

Crawford's grand slam, the third of his career, was surprising considering his struggles against right-handers. He batted just .213 against them this season, which was the sixth-lowest average among qualifying players in the majors.

However Crawford was able to take advantage of a struggling Volquez, who was strong for three innings but ran into problems in the fourth when Pablo Sandoval and Hunter Pence singled and Brandon Belt walked on a full count with no outs.

Crawford fouled off a Volquez curveball to make the count 1-2, but Volquez came back with a curveball on the next pitch and Crawford drilled it into the right-field seats. All of a sudden, it went from raucous to the record crowd of 40,629 falling silent.

The Giants and Crawford are used to doing that. Crawford said it was similar two years ago in Cincinnati when Sergio Romo struck out Scott Rolen in Game 5 of the NLDS.

"When I hit it the crowd died down, but once it went over the fence it was silent," Crawford said. "Once I got to two strikes I was just trying to battle and make contact. The last thing you want to do is strike out in that situation."

For the Pirates, they have experienced the best and worst that the Wild Card Game has to offer. Last year they defeated the Reds before losing to the Cardinals in five games in a Division Series. This year, the Bucs were in the hunt for the division title until the final weekend but lost two of three in Cincinnati.

Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle stressed to his team it was another lesson that they had to learn.

"My first two years here (2011-12), we pushed into the second half of the season and got pushed back," Hurdle said. "These last two years we pushed through the season and found our way into the playoffs.

"What reinforces this whole playoff set more than anything to me now is the importance of winning the division. We've been on both sides of this wild-card coin."

The question with the Giants is can they make another run?

History is on their side. Their last two World Series titles came in even years — 2010 and '12. They will be underdogs against the Nationals, who posted the NL's best record, but facing those odds is nothing new for the Giants.

"We may or may not be the best team on paper, I don't know but as far as a group of guys on a ball team playing in the postseason we're hard to beat," Bumgarner said.

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