Photo courtesy of Arturo Pardavila III, Wikipedia
For the second postseason matchup between the New York Mets and the San Francisco Giants, the two teams competed on Wednesday night for the National League Wild Card Game. The Giants were ultimately victorious with a final score of 3-0.
The Mets’ starting pitcher, Noah Syndergaard, and likewise for the Giants, left-hander Madison Bumgarner, both battled it out in a classic pitcher’s duel.
Synergaard threw sinking fastballs and took a no-hitter into the sixth inning, and Bumgarner worked the pitch count with extreme velocity. It was not until the top of the ninth, when Conor Gillaspie crushed a dramatic three-run homer to right field off of Mets’ relief pitcher Jeurys Familia, that the scoreless tie was broken.
At the All-Star break, San Francisco was leading the majors with a record of 57-33, and then slowly declined, in turn almost missing out on the postseason entirely. In fact, the Giants ended up finishing the regular season by just barely beating out the St. Louis Cardinals by one game for the second NL Wild Card spot.
The Mets also had their fair share of adversities. Coming off of last year’s World Series loss to the Kansas City Royals, the team hoped to win their first championship since 1986, until almost all of the starters rotated on and off of the disabled list.
Fans were tense and emotions ran high as Mets’ center fielder, Curtis Granderson, made an incredible diving catch at the warning track in the top of the sixth. With a runner on second, he managed to keep the game scoreless, sliding to catch a ball hit into deep center.
However, Bumgarner’s pitching proved to be too much for the Mets, as he threw a complete game shutout, letting up four hits and striking out six.
Bumgarner, the 2014 World Series MVP, came into the game with 7-3 record and a 2.14 ERA in 14 career postseason appearances – he was 5-1 with a 0.99 ERA in his last seven postseason starts.
Ramapo College baseball player and avid Major League Baseball fan, Austin Unglaub, who was rooting for New York, said, “It’s pretty tough to watch the entire 162-game season come to an end after one swing of the bat,” which is exactly what happened.
After tonight’s win, San Francisco’s manager Bruce Bochy hopes to continue even-year streak of winning World Series titles, from 2010, to 2012, and 2014, sparking the Giants’ hashtah of #BeliEVEN.
The Giants will now travel to Chicago to take on the dominant Chicago Cubs in the National League Division Series.
khueston@ramapo.edu
