PITTSBURGH: Madison Bumgarner threw a four-hit shutout and Brandon Crawford belted a grand slam to lift San Francisco to an 8-0 win over Pittsburgh yesterday in the National League Wild Card game.
The Giants have now won seven straight playoff elimination games.
The blowout lacked the drama of Tuesday’s American League wild-card game between Kansas City and Oakland, in which the Royals rallied from behind for a 12th-inning win.
But with the victory the Giants move on to face the National League East division champion Washington Nationals in a best-of-five Division Series, with game one scheduled for today in Washington.
Bumgarner struck out 10 and Crawford homered with the bases loaded and no outs in the fourth inning off Edinson Volquez -- silencing the crowd of 40,629 at the Pirates’ PNC Park.
Crawford became the first shortstop in Major League Baseball history to hit a post-season grand slam.
And Bumgarner became the first Giants starter to throw a post-season shutout since Tim Lincecum blanked the Atlanta Braves in the 2010 NL division series. AFP
