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Fee fi fo Bum: Giant gem KO’s Mets
- Updated: October 6, 2016
NEW YORK — Were it not all verifiably true, Madison Bumgarner’s postseason credentials might seem fake, fabricated, the stuff of legend. Bumgarner has been that spectacular throughout his October career, adding to his lore on Wednesday with one of his most remarkable efforts yet.
In a win-or-go-home National League Wild Card Game, Bumgarner delivered a shutout in a 3-0 blanking of the Mets at Citi Field. Delivering his second consecutive Wild Card shutout while extending his postseason scoreless-innings streak to 23, Bumgarner sent the Giants to the NL Division Series, where they will face the Cubs beginning Friday in Chicago at 9 p.m. ET on FS1.
Date Matchup Highlights Oct. 5 SF 3, NYM 0 Shop for postseason gear: Giants | Mets • Complete NL Wild Card coverage
Bumgarner was dominant from the start, retiring the first nine Mets he faced on 21 pitches. But Bumgarner found himself locked in a classic pitchers’ duel with Noah Syndergaard, who finished with 10 strikeouts in seven shutout innings. It was not until Conor Gillaspie hit a three-run homer off Mets closer Jeurys Familia in the ninth that the Giants went ahead, roughing up a closer who had allowed one home run the entire regular season.
A vibrant sellout crowd of 44,747 went mostly silent at that point, watching as Bumgarner completed his shutout in the bottom of the inning.
“Great to move on and get going to Chicago,” said Bumgarner. “Ain’t much to say. That’s a big game for us right there, and we were fortunate to get some late runs, and we got the win.”
Billed as a duel between two of the game’s best and most intimidating starting pitchers, the night descended into exactly that from an early hour. Syndergaard did not allow …