Span ends Syndergaard's no-hit bid in 6th in wild-card game

Cary Marshall
06:32, Oct 20, 2016
Copyright 2015 All rights reserved. This material can't be published, transferred, copied or redistributed.

"(Mets pitcher Noah) Syndergaard was unbelievable", Giants catcher Buster Posey said after the game.

"This game was everything we thought. Two really outstanding pitchers going at it", Bochy said. Bumgarner pretty much set his legacy in the 2014 postseason but last night he added to his reputation as the best big-game pitcher of his generation.

The game was a pitching dual until Gillaspie, on a 1-1, 96-mph fastball, crushed it to right-center for the three-run homer off of Mets closer Jeurys Familia in the top of the ninth inning.

In the sixth inning, the Giants had their biggest chance of the night to strike against Syndergaard.

Terry Collins made the right call by taking out Syndergaard and using Familia in the ninth inning.

That's because the big left-hander has been untouchable under pressure.

Almost anyone who watched Jeurys Familia surrender backbreaker home runs in the playoffs both a year ago against the Royals in the World Series and then again in Wednesday's loss to the Giants in the wild-card game would wonder whether he could succeed in the playoffs.

Bumgarner threw a four-hit shutout, just as he did in the 2014 wild-card game at Pittsburgh. Koufax, Gibson, Smoltz, Rivera, Schilling.

Reactions like that show exactly why Bumgarner is so good in October.

"That's the nature of the game", he said when asked about the one-game wild card elimination. "That's all anybody wants to be". The Rangers host Game One of the best-of-five matchup this afternoon at Globe Life Park. And if there is a Game 5 in that series, he'll probably pitch in that game, too. He threw 119 pitches and gave up only four hits in lowering his career postseason ERA on the road to 0.50 - three earned runs in 53⅔ innings.

Bengals go from drubbing in Dallas to Brady in New England
Aaron Rodgers has not been at his best this season, but unlike the last few seasons he has not had to getting a lot of help. The Packers' fans are used to seeing a high scoring bunch where Rodgers puts up a ton of yards and leads his teams to wins.

Crawford's leadoff double against Familia in the ninth ignited the rally. He struck out Angel Pagan, but followed by walking Joe Panik. There's no lesson to be learned, I don't think. "He was the guy I wanted out there in the ninth inning".

"This time previous year, I was home and I did some soul search, I guess you could say", Gillaspie said.

When the ball cleared the fence, it stunned a revved-up, orange towel-waving crowd of 44,747 that sank into its Citi Field seats with a collective groan. Insane, perhaps, but as Giants fans know, good things come in even years.

T.J. Rivera slams his way into scoring position with a stand-up double into left field.

San Francisco players hugged each other behind the mound and headed for the clubhouse to celebrate with bubbly, cheered by a happy contingent of Giants fans behind their dugout. Giants manager Bruce Bochy said Nunez, who strained his right hamstring September 25, wasn't able to sprint at 100 percent. And here we are again: even year, Giants win the wildcard playoff behind Bumgarner and are heading on to the real playoffs. Curtis Granderson made a run-saving catch in a Willie Mays impersonation.

With their 3-0 win over the Mets in the Wild Card game, the Giants have now won 11 straight playoff rounds, joining the New York Yankees (1998-2001) as the only teams to ever do so (although the Yankees' wins all came in consecutive postseasons).

It's unclear how he feels now, but he can't be ecstatic based on the way the Giants are playing lately.

One hundred and sixty two games and all the ebbs and flows of a season that goes for that long and it all comes down to one game.

And it was two very different stories as closers were the story of the 2016 wild-card round.

Time to heal. Less than 4 1/2 months until pitchers and catchers, ones the Mets hope have soothed muscles, mended tendons, resuscitated ligaments and rejuvenated spirits.

Copyright 2015 All rights reserved. This material can't be published, transferred, copied or redistributed.


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