GIANT OPENER IS BUM RUSH
ball hit by Gregor Blanco, and the Giants scored again, their lead a result of Wainwright’s shakiness combined with a defense that forced him to work even harder. By the end of the second, Wainwright had thrown 51 pitches.
The Giants scored again in the third, the result of the same factors. First, Wainwright bent, beginning the inning by allowing hard singles to Buster Posey and Sandoval. Hunter Pence followed with a ground ball up the middle that second baseman Kolten Wong bobbled in trying to turn a double play. Shortstop Jhonny Peralta got the force at second, but Pence was safe at first.
That allowed Brandon Crawford to hit a sacrifice fly later in the inning, and extend the Giants’ lead to 3-0.
“It comes down to us doing the things we do on a consistent basis,” Matheny said.
After just 4.2 innings, Wainwright was done, removed after walking Brandon Belt. Bumgarner, meanwhile, mowed through the Cards inning after inning en route to setting a major league postseason record with 26.2 consecutive scoreless innings on the road. In a postseason where Wa i nw r ig ht , Clayton Kershaw, Jon Lester, Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, James Shields and Stephen Strasburg have ranged from mediocre to bad to stunningly awful, Bumgarner continues to impress.
On Saturday, he dominated through most of the game, until finding himself with runners on second and third with two outs in the seventh; he struck out Tony Cruz to maintain the three-run lead.
“He’s so good,” said Giants manager Bruce Bochy. “This kid, since he’s come up here, he’s just gotten better, too. And he executed all night against a tough lineup.”