SF Giants rout Pirates in wild-card game; Crawford, Bumgarner star
By Henry Schulman
Pittsburgh – Brandon Crawford came into this league with a grand slam, so the feeling of trotting the bases with three mates ahead of him was not new. But given the stakes, the importance of this hit, it’s a wonder he had time to breathe.
The glove-first shortstop, who failed for the third straight season to edge his batting average to .250, became the slugging hero Wednesday night in the Giants’ first foray into the do-or-die wild-card baseball.
Crawford’s fourth-inning grand slam in a scoreless game, the first in postseason history by a shortstop, and Madison Bumgarner at snot-rockety best propelled the Giants to an 8-0 victory against the Pirates at PNC Park.
Brandon Belt drove in the three runs that turned this into a rout with singles in the sixth and seventh innings. Joe Panik had three hits in his postseason debut and Bumgarner gave no quarter in a game the Giants had to win.
http://blog.sfgate.com/giants/2014/10/01/sf-giants-rout-pirates-in-wild-card-game-crawford-bumgarner-star/