In Major League Baseball, the two teams with the best record in each league who do not win adivision play against each other in theWild Card Game. This was the second postseason meeting between the Giants and Pirates – the two teams first met in the1971 NL Championship Series, with the Pirates coming from behind to win three games to one after dropping Game 1.[8] The Giants' most recentpostseason appearance was in2012, when they swept theDetroit Tigers to win theWorld Series that year.[9] On the other hand, the Pirates were able to advance to the playoffs inthe previous season, marking the team's first postseason appearance in 21 years.[10] They lost three games to two inthat year's NLDS to theSt. Louis Cardinals.[11]
The first half of the2014 season ended with both teams having three players on the NL squad for the2014 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.Madison Bumgarner,Tim Hudson, andHunter Pence represented the Giants,[12] whileJosh Harrison,Andrew McCutchen, andTony Watson represented the Pirates.[13] During the second half of the season, there were several teams that were in contention for the two Wild Card spots, along with their divisional competition. These included theAtlanta Braves,Cincinnati Reds, andMiami Marlins, in addition to San Francisco and Pittsburgh.[14] The Pirates performed poorly in August,[15] and they lost seven consecutive games at one point.[16] However, the team made a resurgence by winning 17 of the last 23 games of the regular season, surpassing San Francisco in the process for first place in the wild card standings.[17] The Pirates secured their spot in the postseason on September 23,[18] while the Giants made it to the playoffs two days later.[19] Both were the result of separate Brewers' losses to Cincinnati.[18][19]
With Pittsburgh's postseason place secured, managerClint Hurdle chose to startGerrit Cole – the team'sace[20] – in the final game of the season against theCincinnati Reds on September 28, instead of skipping his turn in the rotation and saving his start for the Wild Card Game.[21] This was done in an effort to beat the Cardinals to theNL Central division title, rather than settling for the wild card spot.[22] The Pirates also needed to rely on theArizona Diamondbacks – which finished with the worst record in the MLB at 64–98 (.395)[23] – to defeat St. Louis in order to force atiebreaker.[21] However, this did not come to fruition as the Cardinals narrowly won 1–0 over the D-backs,[24] while the Pirates lost 4–1 to Cincinnati.[25] As a result of Cole starting in Sunday's season finale, he was unable to pitch in the Wild Card Game on Wednesday.[21]
For the Wild Card Game, the Pirates startedEdinson Vólquez, who had a 13–7win–loss record and 3.04earned run average (ERA) in 31games started during the 2014 season.[26] Hurdle picked him over the team's other available starters –Francisco Liriano (who would have been pitching on only three days' rest) andJeff Locke, who pitched erratically throughout the year.[27] The Giants selected left-handerMadison Bumgarner, who had an 18–10 win–loss record and 2.98 ERA during the season, as their starting pitcher.[28] He was chosen overJake Peavy,[29][30] given the southpaw's superior record on the road during the season; Bumgarner compiled an 11–4 win–loss record with a 2.22 ERA on the road, compared to a 7–6 record and 4.03 ERA atAT&T Park.[31]
The first third of the game was a tight scorelesspitcher's duel between Volquez and Bumgarner,[32] with the latter needing to throw just 28 pitches – the fewest pitches he has ever tossed in three consecutive innings of any game in his career.[33] Only one batter – Giants' third basemanPablo Sandoval – was able to advance as far as second base during this time. The game remained scoreless until the fourth inning, when Volquez gave up twosingles and awalk toload the bases. The subsequent batter,Brandon Crawford, hit a grand slam.[32] This was the firstgrand slam hit by ashortstop inpostseason history.[34] Up until this point, players from all otherpositions in baseball – includingpitcher[35][36] – had hit postseason grand slams.[37] Volquez pitched until the top of the sixth inning, when he gave up a walk and was replaced byJustin Wilson, who promptly threw awild pitch. Wilson then allowed theinherited runner to score on arun batted in (RBI) single byBrandon Belt, who ended up driving in two more runs in the seventh inning with another single. The Giants added their final run of the game with an RBI single byBuster Posey in the top of the eighth.[32]
The Pirates, who had struggled to score a run off Bumgarner throughout the entire game, came closest in the bottom of the eighth inning. With one out, they hadrunners at the corners after twoerrors and a single.[32] He extinguished the threat by striking outJordy Mercer and having reigningNL MVPAndrew McCutchen ground into a force out.[38] Although Giants managerBruce Bochy instructedcloserSergio Romo to warm up in thebullpen[39] – in preparation of removing Bumgarner from the game – the starter insisted on continuing into the bottom of the ninth.[40] He proceeded to pitch a perfect inning to finish theshutout, giving up four singles and one walk while striking out 10 during thecomplete game.[32] In contrast, the entire Pirates' lineup batted .125 that night;[32] excludingJosh Harrison's 2-for-4 performance, the rest of the team hit 2-for-28 (.071).[33]
By winning the game, San Francisco secured the team's seventh NLDS appearance in franchise history since the permanent implementation of the Division Series after the1994 season.[41] They also extended their record for most consecutive victories in postseason elimination games to seven. This tied theKansas City Royals, who had just extended their recordthe night before.[42] Bumgarner became just the third pitcher – afterSandy Koufax (in the1965 World Series) andJustin Verlander (in the2012 American League Division Series)[33] – to pitch a shutout with at least 10 strikeouts in a deciding postseason game.[43]
The Giants played theWashington Nationals in the NLDS. The second game of that series saw San Francisco win 2–1 after 18 innings. Lasting 6 hours and 23 minutes, it was the longest postseason game in history in terms of time elapsed,[44] and was the joint-longest in terms of innings (tied with the 4th game of the2005 NLDS between theHouston Astros and the Braves).[45] Although the Nationals won the next game against Bumgarner – ending the Giants' NL record of 10 consecutive postseason games won[46] – San Francisco triumphed in Game 4 to clinch the series 3–1 and advance to theNL Championship Series (NLCS).[47]
The NLCS was played between Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals in a rematch of theNLCS two years before.[48] The Giants won the series 4–1, attaining theNL pennant and advancing to theWorld Series for the third time in five years.[49] They faced theKansas City Royals in only the second Fall Classic played between two wild card teams, and the first since the2002 World Series when San Francisco lost to theAnaheim Angels in seven games.[50][51] The Giants won the series in seven games, becoming the sixth Wild Card team to win the World Series.[52]
