Getting Familia With Gillaspie

If you’ve been following along this whole time we covered 6 years and 16 remarkable playoff games. How lucky we are as fans to have lived through it. An incredible Giants era was coming to an end but there were still two more outstanding wins worth talking about. The first takes place in New York on October 5, 2016. The Giants limped into the 2nd Wild Card spot after being the best team in baseball in the first half with a 57-33 record. They then lost their first 6 games of the 2nd half and would play a miserable 30-42 for an overall record of 87-75. Still 12 games over .500, but nowhere near how good they were in the first half.

The New York Mets had the same record but because they were 4-3 against the Giants that year, they would host the Wild Card Game. It would be a true battle of aces as Madison Bumgarner would face off against Noah Syndergaard. Nicknamed Thor, Syndergaard was 14-9 in 2016 with with a 2.60 ERA. Giving up the fewest HR per 9 at .5, he was an All Star for the first time in his career. However, the Giants had seen him twice in 2016 and beat him in New York 6-1 on May 1st. But later in August he beat the Giants at home in San Francisco 2-0 going 8 innings and only giving up 2 hits. He was tough. He was Thor.

This would be a true test for a struggling Giants offense that seemed to have collapsed when they traded Forever Giant Matt Duffy away. Many Giants fans think the “Duffy Curse” is still alive and well as they haven’t been a good team since his departure. In his stead, the Giants would call upon Conor Gillaspie. Gillaspie actually came up with the Giants in 2008, playing only 8 games. He would see a few more games in 2011, and 2012 before spending 2 seasons on the White Sox where he was a starter. The Giants would resign him in February of 2016 and once Duffy was out, Gillaspie came up and played 101 games. He would be the Giants third baseman in this one. Maybe he can make everyone forget about Matt Duffy.

An Old Fashioned Pitcher’s Duel

The last time Bumgarner pitched in the postseason was Game 7 of the World Series in 2014. It’s hard to imagine him being better than he was that night, but tonight’s game may have been just as impressive. Syndergaard was mowing the Giants down but he didn’t have the efficiency that Bumgarner did. I think the Mets had an “attack early” plan and they were doing it, only it wasn’t succeeding. Bum threw 7 pitches in the first inning, 7 in the 2nd, and thanks to a first pitch double play by James Loney, got out of the 3rd with a miniscule 21 pitches through three innings.

Thor was relying on the strike out which was raising his pitch count. The Giants plan was to make him work to get him out of there sooner and after three innings was at 37 pitches. Not high, but much higher than Bum’s 21. A 2 inning difference. How long will Thor last?

The Most Important Inning – Defensively

Jumping to the bottom of the 5th it’s still a 0-0 game. Bum’s cruising and he’s only at 49 pitches. Leading it off for the Mets is 2nd baseman T.J. Rivera. He takes a fastball for a strike then on the 0-1 hits a flyball down the left field line that just kind of sticks when it lands about 10 feet fair. Pagan gets to it and heaves it all the way to 2nd base but it’s way offline and Rivera is in there with a leadoff double. Bum made a good pitch on a slider down and in but Rivera got to it and the Giants are in trouble.

Next up is the very dangerous Jay Bruce. Giants would love to shift on him but with the runner on 2nd they have play fairly normal. Craw is basically behind 2nd base, keeping Rivera close. Bum’s first pitch to Bruce is a big old curveball for a strike. All he has to do is hit a ground ball to the right side to move up Rivera and he’ll have a great at bat. The 0-1 is a fastball outside and Bruce checks his swing and it’s 1-1. The third pitch is another fastball and Bruce chops it down the first base line just foul. Belt would have made the out easily and it would have been productive for Bruce, but it’s just a strike. Bum gets a new ball and rubs it up. Rivera takes his lead as the Giants ace looks in to Buster for the sign. Curveball. Bum deals and Bruce reaches for it in the dirt to strike out and there’s 1 away. Not a great AB from Bruce who was picked up by the Mets at the trade deadline to hit doubles in that scenario. He would go 0-3.

Next up is the other Rivera, Rene Rivera. He’s going to battle Bum and get himself into a full count. On the 3-2 pitch with the go ahead run on 2nd, Rene hits a little ground ball right at Crawford. T.J. then finds himself in no man’s land between 2nd and 3rd with nowhere to go. Craw runs at him and after a few tosses to other teammates, the Giants get the out, going 6-5-4-6. But on the play Rene moves all the way up to 2nd base. In the end it’s just as good as a strikeout as there’s still a guy on 2nd but now there’s 2 away.

This brings James Loney to the plate and with Syndergaard on deck they’ll intentional walk him but this was back in the old days when you still had to throw 4 pitches to do this. I recall those days fondly.

Now here’s Thor who swings and misses at a first pitch fastball and it’s 0-1. He was trying to give them the lead with that swing. Syndergaard hit 3 home runs in 2016 so you couldn’t just groove him fastballs. Bum got away with one there. The 0-1 is another fastball fouled back and it’s 0-2. Gotta get him here. Can’t roll the top of the lineup over. Bum deals and the 0-2 is a fastball way high, ball 1. Now at 68 pitches, Bum strikes out Thor with a big old curveball to end the inning. An unfair pitch to throw to another pitcher, but this is the playoffs. Come get some.

Shut Down

Pathetic, disgusting, garbage, and rubbish: these are all words to describe the Giants’ offense in this one. Syndergaard was dominant. Through the first 5 innings he held the Giants hitless while striking out 8. That’s almost 3 innings of just strikeouts. But the Giants were seeing a lot of pitches. Buster Posey had a 7 pitch at bat, Crawford 8, Span 8, Belt 7. The first guy to crack his armor was Denard Span with a 2 out, 2 strike, 6th inning single. He would steal 2nd on the next pitch but Belt would fly out to deepest center field for the 3rd out. Granderson actually made a hell of a play on Belt’s flyball. He ran full speed while catching it on the track and slamming into the wall before he could slow down. A great play that makes Belt slam his helmet down with both hands between 1st and 2nd and shout “God dammit!” at the top of his lungs.

In the top of the 7th the Giants made it interesting again after 2 were out. Crawford would draw a 5 pitch walk, the 3rd of the night for Syndergaard and now he’s at 101 pitches. Angel Pagan digs into the box and puts up a pretty good at bat versus Thor. He gets 5 pitches out of him and on a 2-2 fastball low and away, Pagan rolls it over, hitting it to 1st baseman Loney’s right. Loney can’t get there and it rolls into the outfield grass, getting cut off by 2nd baseman T.J. Rivera. Now it’s a race to the bag between Pagan and Syndergaard. Thor appears to get there in time but Rivera’s throw is way late and Pagan beats it out! Pagan lost his helmet on the swing so he had a little less weight to carry down the first baseline, which is probably how he beat it. Now the Giants have guys on 1st and 2nd with 2 outs.

Syndergaard will stay in the game to face Panik who he’s struck out twice tonight and on the 2nd pitch of the at bat gets him to groundout to end the threat. It started to feel like this game was going to be won 1-0 by a solo HR in the 12th. But that would be the end of Syndergaard’s night. His final line:

7 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 10 SO, 108 pitches, GSc 80

The 9th

If you were making a list of Giants players you thought might homer in this game, you might have picked Gillaspie last. He had 31 total home runs in 8 seasons. However, that just made him more due. His left handed bat was great to have in there against Syndergaard as well as the Mets’ closer, Jeurys Familia. Familia was scary. He lead the league in saves with 51 that year and only gave up 1 home run. He did, however, have a high ERA for a closer at 2.55. So he was touchable. Just don’t expect a big fly.

To start the 9th, Familia would be met by three lefties in a row: Craw, Pagan, and Panik. His first pitch to Crawford is at 96 mph but nowhere near the zone. Maybe he doesn’t have anything tonight. The 0-1 is at 97 mph and Craw fouls it straight back. Ok, so Familia can throw strikes and he’s in the upper 90’s. Great. Next pitch is another fastball but he misses low, then on the 2-1 he tries to go right back there and Crawford is all over it. It came in at 96 mph and went out at about the same speed as Brandon drilled it into the left center field gap. It skips by Cespedes and Crawford is easily into 2nd base with a leadoff double! A huge hit here in the 9th off one of the toughest closers in baseball.

Next up is Pagan who squares around like he’s going to bunt on the first pitch, but takes it for a ball, low. He would square to bunt on the next 4 pitches, fouling two off, bringing the count full. On the 3-2 Familia blows a heater by him at the top of the zone and there’s 1 away. Not a great at bat from Angel.

At his point, Sergio Romo gets up in the bullpen and starts to stretch and toss. A rare sight in a Bumgarner postseason game. Meanwhile, New York native Joe Panik is digging in the box. The first 2 pitches miss badly and on the 2-0 Panik fouls a fastball straight back. Giants having a hard time catching up to the high ones. Panik will foul off the next one and Familia has evened the count at 2-2. Mets fans start to get loud now, wanting another strikeout, but then Familia and Rivera meet on the mound to stifle their roar. The 2-2 is a ball almost in the dirt but Panik gets a piece of it to stay alive. The next 2-2 is a slider that misses badly up and in and it’s a full count. Great at bat by Joe here. On the 3-2 Familia goes back to the fastball and misses outside for the walk. Not the worst thing in the world for the Mets, but not the best thing in the world for the Giants as now the double play is set up and here comes the bottom of the order.

The fourth lefty of the inning is Conor Gillaspie. Conor’s 1-3 tonight but before his at bat there’s a big meeting on the mound facilitated by the Mets’ pitching coach, probably discussing if they want to walk Gillaspie to pitch to Bumgarner with the bases loaded or pitch to Gillaspie and hope that Bum comes up with 2 outs. But then again, if Bum comes up with the bases loaded and 2 outs, do you pinch hit for him? Remember, Pablo Sandoval was in Boston now so they don’t have his bat on the bench. Jarrett Parker did in fact come onto the on deck circle and takes some swings while the Mets met on the mound. So many options here.

The first thing Gillaspie does is walk into the box, spit on his hand, and rub it the dirt. No batting gloves. A man’s man. Familia is at 17 pitches now and he’s only got 1 out. Giants have guys on 1st and 2nd. Conor takes the first pitch at 96 mph on the inside corner for strike 1. All he’s seen is gas tonight. He steps out of the box and rubs his right hand in the dirt again. Long time between pitches here. Familia sets, throws. It’s 96 mph in the dirt and it’s 1-1. Tough inning for Rivera behind the plate as Familia can’t seem to throw 2 strikes in a row, which means the next one should be hitable, right?

He gets a new ball and rubs it up. Crawford takes a modest lead off 2nd, held close by Cabrera, but you have to think all of Familia’s attention is on Gillaspie. Familia comes set, hands high across the Mets logo. He takes a quick glance at Craw and deals. The 1-1 is supposed to be low and away, but he misses up and right down the middle. Conor’s all over it and sends it to deepest right center field. Bruce has a beat on it but he’ll never get there as this ball bangs off the top of the Mets’ bullpen roof for a clutch 3 run homer!

Conor gives the dugout a look and pumps both his hands in the air between 1st and 2nd. The greatest moment of his career.

All Familia can do is watch and wipe his brow. As Gillaspie comes around 3rd he’s still yelling, incredibly pumped up. Syndergaard, who held the Giants to 2 hits through 7 innings stares in complete disbelief at what just happened. A homer unlooked for! It’s only the 2nd home run allowed by Familia all year, and, I’m trying, but I can’t think of a worse time for it.

The next batter isn’t Jarrett Parker either. It’s Madison Bumgarner who’s going back out there but not before he hits a flyball that misses being a home run by about 5 feet. Span would fly out to end the inning but the damage was done. Familia comes in, faces 6 guys, and gives up 3 runs on 27 pitches. His 6th blown save of the year, and last.

Bumgarner would get the Mets in order on 13 pitches in the bottom of the 9th, for his 2nd complete game shutout in a Wild Card game. His final line:

9 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 6 K, 119 pitches, GSc 83

A Great At Bat

It’s difficult in these games where you score all your runs on one swing of the bat to not give it to the guy with all the RBIs, but I’m not doing that tonight. It was the at bat that started the 9th for the Giants that gets the nod. As you recall, Crawford lead off the 9th with a double off of a very tough closer. When you’re the first guy to face a new pitcher, often times it’s your job to put up a long at bat to see what he’s got, and what he’s capable of. But in the 9th inning, you don’t really have the time to do that. You have to hit your pitch. In Craw’s at bat, he measured a fastball, then fouled the next one back so you could tell he was on it. It may have been more difficult for the Giants to go from a pitcher like Bartolo Colon to Familia because you’d go from 87 mph to 97 mph. But if you’re seeing high 90’s the whole game you get many opportunities to time it and that’s just what Crawford did as he smoked a fastball in the gap to start this incredible inning. Great at bat.

Odd Stats

The only home run that Jeurys Familia gave up all year was back on August 13 in a blown save against San Diego.

The last home run Conor Gillaspie hit was just on September 27 in a 12-3 win over Colorado at home.

Bumgarner only threw 2 other complete game shutouts in 2016: 5-1 W over San Diego on May 17, 4-0 W over Arizona on July 10. He never threw fewer than 5 innings all year.

Bum’s Game Score of 83 was his 4th highest of the year behind 98 (May 17), 85, and 84.

The Giants got 5 hits or less in 36 games in 2016 with a record of 11-25. So it was remarkable that they got the win in New York.

Bumgarner’s numbers in 2 Wild Card Games: 18 IP, 8 H, 3 BB, 16 K, 0.00 ERA, 2 W

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Next Blog: 2016 NLDS Game 3 – March 26, 2020