The 3 plays from the San Francisco Giants' NL wild-card win that people will be talking about on Thursday
Good morning! The San Francisco Giants beat the New york Mets, 3-0 Wednesday night in the National League wild-card game. Here are the plays everybody will be talking about on Thursday:
Curtis Granderson made an incredible catch to keep the score tied. In the sixth inning, the Giants had a runner on second with two outs. Brandon Belt hit a long fly ball to center field. Curtis Granderson made an incredible catch, crashing into the wall to keep the game scoreless and the Mets' hopes alive.
The Giants came within a millimeter of possibly escaping the ninth inning unscathed. One batter before Conor Gillaspie came to the plate, the Mets fortunes changed on one pitch. On a 2-2 pitch, Jeurys Familia called catcher Rene Rivera to the mound. Whatever they discussed worked as Familia got Joe Panik to swing at a pitch low that he just barely fouled off. If Panik misses that pitch and strikes out, the Mets almost certainly intentionally walk Gillaspie. Not only would Gillaspie not have been able to hit a home run, but the Giants would have then likely pinch hit for Madison Bumgarner, taking their best weapon out of the game. Instead, Panik fouls the pitch off, and two pitches later he walks.
Conor Gillaspie wins it with a 3-run home run in the ninth. Jeurys Familia was making his first appearance since blowing three saves in the 2015 World Series and this one didn't go much different. Despite nearly getting Panik to strike out, he walked. Three pitches later, Gillaspie went deep with a 3-run home run and it was effectively game over.
The Madison Bumgarner Bonus. We can't talk about the NL Wild Card without mentioning the dominant 4-hit shutout by Bumgarner. The Mets only got a runner in scoring position twice and really only threatened once. With two outs in the eighth inning and a runner on second, Bumgarner caught a comebacker to end the inning. Even that play was probably not as scary as it looked as it wasn't hit hard enough to get through the infield. In the end, it was just another ho-hum fly ball that sealed the win.