San Francisco pitcher Madison Bumgarner was the star of Wednesday's National League Wild Card game, pitching a complete-game four-hit shutout to lead the Giants to an 8-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Bumgarner was dominant on the mound, striking out 10 batters and needing just 109 pitches to shut down Pittsburgh's potent lineup. After the win, Bumgarner channeled "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and chugged four beers at the same time in the locker room:
A well-deserved celebration for the San Francisco ace who won 18 games during the regular season. Bumgarner allowed just four singles and mixed his pitches very well, using his fastball, slider and curve to keep Pirates hitters guessing. He walked just one batters and threw 79 strikes. With Bumgarner looking untouchable, it took the pressure off the Giants' hitters and they were able to provide their workhorse pitcher with run support. Brandon Crawford broke a scoreless tie in the fourth inning with a grand slam off Pittsburgh's Edinson Volquez, the first grand slam by a shortstop in postseason history. Brandon Belt drove in three runs with singles in the sixth and seventh innings and Buster Posey added an RBI in the eighth to cap the scoring. Bumgarner also received help from his defense, with third baseman Pablo Sandoval making an incredible catch while flipping over the railing in front of the Pittsburgh dugout off a foul popup by Russell Martin:
The Giants, who won the World Series in 2010 and 2012, will now travel to Washington on Friday to face the NL East champion Nationals led by rookie manager Matt Williams, who was once a star third baseman for San Francisco.
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