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| Bumgardner was nearly untouchable. Photo Credit: Matt Marton/ USA Today Sports |
Madison Bumgardner brought his a game to the mound & Brandon Crawford brought a timely hit along tonight in Pittsburgh as well which spelled doom for the Pirates as they were blanked 8-0 at home on Wednesday night in the NL WildCard Game.
By: Michael Hanley
Both Madison Bumgardner and Edinson Volquez both were very sharp early as they were able to maneuver through the lineups with not too much trouble. The hitters were having trouble getting any sort of feel for either starter as they struggled to even get any sort of hit to start a rally in any half inning.
The Giants would strike big in the 4th inning as Brandon Crawford hit a grand slam to get San Francisco on the board at 4-0. It was the first grand slam by a shortstop in MLB history.
They were finally able to put runners on against Volquez who was showing signs of struggling with his control and elevating his pitch count. Crawford stepped up an tattooed a pitch out of the ballpark. It gave Bumgardner a healthy lead to run with and to get the Giants deep into this game.
The Giants would add another run to their lead courtesy of Brandon Belt who singled home Hunter Pence to make it 5-0 San Francisco. This would spell the end for Edinson Volquez who did not deliver in this must win start for his team.
He finished with a line of five innings, five hits, five earned runs, three walks and three strikeouts on 83 pitches. He looked like he might go deep into this game and be able to match Bumgardner zero for zero but he lost control of his pitches, could not get any easy outs and ran out of gas in that fateful 5th inning.
The 25 year old would continue to cruise in this game as he continued to shutdown the Pirates offense altogether. He was showcasing all of his different pitches and getting them all to work for strikes and for strikeouts. He finished with a four hit shutout in a complete game effort, allowing only four hits and striking out ten. The Giants could not have asked for an anymore perfect outing from him if they tried.
San Francisco would tack on another run as Buster Posey drove home Gregor Blanco to make it 8-0 Giants in the 8th inning, putting some more icing on top of the Giants cake for the night. He capped off a solid game in he which he went 2 for 5 with one run and one RBI.
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