Bumgarner is Giant in Wild Card win

Madison Bumgarner just needed his offense to score one run.Brandon Crawford took care of that and more with one swing  and Bumgarner took care of the rest with a four hit shutout as the San Francisco Giants silenced a loud crowd at PNC Park with a 8-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Crawford's fourth inning grand slam off Edinson Volquez  ripped a scoreless game wide open and there was no looking back after that.

The Giants would continue to add to the lead in the sixth,seventh and eighth innings as they would plate four more runs in the rout.
The Giants move onto Washington Friday for a NLDS showdown with the Washington Nationals.

Wild Card Wonderings

1) I wrote yesterday that if the Giants and Pirates played a five game series,I'd pick the Buccos,but in a one game matchup,I liked the Giants due to Madison Bumgarner and he was dynamite.
10 strikeouts and the wideout slider baffled the Bucs all evening.
Madison Bumgarner may not be the best pitcher in the game or even his own division (Clayton Kershaw unfortunately resides there),but at 25 years of age,I might pick him to pitch a big game over anyone else...

2) I have never heard a crowd that loud go quiet that fast in all my years of watching sports.
When Brandon Crawford's homer disappeared over the right field wall,the crowd sounded like someone had muted the entire stadium.
A very unusual sound or lack thereof.

3) In all the years of postseason baseball,Brandon Crawford's grand slam was the first ever hit by a shortstop.
I would have never guessed that fact...

4) Pablo Sandoval showed his surprising athletic ability at 245 pounds with his catch of a Russell Martin popup that saw him tumble over the rail and into the Pirate dugout.
Sandoval then landed on his feet as he turned himself in mid air.
Quite a feat for a big man!

5) I did have concern in left field as former Hagerstown Sun Travis Ishikawa started in left for the Giants.
Ishikawa had played 29 innings in his career in left field and PNC Park is noted for its tough left field on defensive outfielders.
There weren't any difficult plays for Ishikawa to make,so the Bruce Bochy gamble paid off.

6) I planned on a mixed post,but the Pirates just didn't offer much to write in a shutout that saw them never even truly threaten to score.

7) Wrapping up,the Giants travel to Washington and the waiting Nationals.
Washington won five of the seven games between them this season and will only have to face Bumgarner once.
My prediction? Nationals in four.
But-Go Giants.