It means something to have a horse who can finish what he started. For the New York Mets and Noah Syndergaard, that horse was MadBum.
- New York Mets 0 (0-1)
- San Francisco Giants 3 (1-0)
- NL Wild Card Game, Final, Box Score
- Citi Field, Flushing, New York
Possessing that guy, that horse who can take the ball and actually finish what he started is worth its weight in gold in Major League Baseball. It just doesn’t happen anymore in this day and age.
That is usually the case, unless your name is Madison Bumgarner.
MadBum did it again. He went the distance against the New York Mets in propelling his San Francisco Giants to the 3-0 victory at Citi Field in the NL Wild Card Game. The final line for Bumgarner was nine innings pitched, zero runs, four hits, two walks, and six strikeouts while throwing 119 pitches.
Noah Syndergaard, while he couldn’t finish what he started, was absolutely brilliant on the night. His seven innings consisted of zero runs, two hits, three walks, and 10 strikeouts on 108 pitches.
Thor's dominating Citi night …#Syndergaard #NLWildCardGame #LGM pic.twitter.com/VWwzZCZghI
— Elite Sports NY (@EliteSportsNY) October 6, 2016
The difference in the game was a Conor Gillaspie 3-run home run in the 9th-inning against Jeurys Familia:
World, meet Conor Gillaspie.
He just set up a @SFGiants–@Cubs #NLDS. https://t.co/Q4F1uxVpqA #WildCard pic.twitter.com/wcGDJ0VNnc
— MLB (@MLB) October 6, 2016
Even-year magic.
Bumgarner dealing.@SFGiants win NL #WildCard Game with the same insane formula: https://t.co/ZjMpyofaZU pic.twitter.com/zP2YeImUwM— MLB (@MLB) October 6, 2016
Addison Reed pitched into a bases loaded situation in the 8th-inning but ultimately got out of it. Familia couldn’t get out of his jam.
What’s worse was that the batter after Gillaspie was the pitcher’s spot. Manager Bruce Bochy looked as if he was going to pinch-hit for Bumgarner. Once Gillaspie’s home run happened, though, no such replacement was needed and MadBum was able to finish strong.
Thor, for how dominant he was, just couldn’t battle through the Giants strategy of working his pitch count. The Mets, on the other hand, did a terrible job during the first three innings against Bumgarner. After just three innings of work, MadBum had only thrown 21 pitches.
MLB teams simply can’t beat Bumgarner in the postseason if they don’t appropriately get his pitch count up. It’s that simple.
Offensively, there wasn’t much for the Mets, as the pitchers’ duel lasted until Familia in the ninth. Asdrubal Cabrera, T.J. Rivera, Rene Rivera, and Ty Kelly were the only four Mets to pick up a hit. Only T.J. Rivera was able to extend his past a single (double).
The only real highlight of the night coming from an everyday player came in the top of the 6th-inning when Curtis Granderson made this gutty catch to preserve a run:
https://twitter.com/_MarcusD2_/status/783849012059262976?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
In the end, though, as filthy as Syndergaard’s stuff was, it doesn’t mean much when he’s forced to hand the ball to somebody else. Terry Collins was hammered when he allowed Matt Harvey to go back out for the 9th-inning in Game 5 of the World Series. He shouldn’t have been hammered. Harvey just didn’t get the job done.
Tonight, Familia didn’t get the job done. The Mets offensive strategy didn’t get the job done early in the game. And Grandy’s catch will be remembered more as an Endy Chavez.
Hats off to Madison Bumgarner. He’s a classic October pitcher who hasn’t allowed a run in 23-innings pitched of do-or-die baseball. Simply amazing.
