NL wild card: Bumgarner and Crawford help Giants overpower Pirates

It didn't pack the same punch as Tuesday's AL wild-card game, but the San Francisco Giants were happy to avoid the drama. Thanks to Madison Bumgarner's masterful complete-game performance and Brandon Crawford's fourth-inning grand slam, they cruised past the Pittsburgh Pirates, 8-0, advancing to the NLDS against the Washington Nationals.

The largest crowd in PNC Park history was predictably loud and wild early, but Bumgarner calmed them down with three scoreless innings out of the box. Once Crawford's slam landed one row beyond the right-field scoreboard in the fourth, you could hear a pin drop. For all intents and purposes, the Pirates' season ended right there. Neither the team nor the crowd recovered as the relentless Giants continued piling on runs.

• Madison Bumgarner was both dominant and efficient, holding Pittsburgh to four hits in his first career postseason shutout. He struck out 10, walked one, and needed only 109 pitches. Bumgarner also had two shutouts during the regular season and has three for his career.

• Brandon Crawford not only provided the game's biggest hit with his grand slam, he made MLB history. According to multiple outlets, his grand slam was the first ever hit by a shortstop during the postseason. It could also lead to discord in his own family.

• All of the Brandons, actually. After Crawford's slam set the tone, Brandon Belt joined in the fun, knocking home San Francisco's next three with an RBI single in the sixth and a two-run single in the seventh. The scoreboard looked something like this.

• Pablo Sandoval entered 7-for-14 lifetime against Edinson Volquez and continued that tear with a pair of singles early. He just missed a home run in the third inning (it went foul) that would have opened the scoring, but he ended up scoring anyway on Crawford's slam. In the seventh inning, he flashed some leather and showed off his agility with a terrific catch falling into the Pirates' dugout.

• Giants second baseman Joe Panik surely didn't panic in his postseason debut. He contributed three hits and also helped the Giants avoid a defensive disaster, catching a popup as right fielder Hunter Pence crashed into him.

• Edinson Volquez: It started out well enough for Volquez with three scoreless innings, but he was done in by four batters in the fourth inning. Volquez allowed singles to Pablo Sandoval and Hunter Pence to start the rally, and then walked Brandon Belt to load the bases. That set the stage for Crawford's heroics and served as the beginning of the end for Pittsburgh's postseason hopes. On a personal level, it was a disappointing end to a nice bounce-back season for Volquez. But the Pirates were simply overmatched in every phase on Wednesday night.

• Pittsburgh's offense: Limited to four singles, the Pirates' offense only mounted one minor threat all night. Highlighting the disappointment was an 0-for-3 game for Andrew McCutchen, whose groundout ended that late eighth-inning rally.

Brandon Crawford's grand slam was the difference, but right before his at-bat, Brandon Belt worked back from a 1-2 count to draw a walk, which loaded the bases. Though there were no outs at the time, and any type of out — especially a double play — could have easily changed the dynamic of the inning and helped Volquez regain traction.

• In five September starts, Edinson Volquez allowed one home run and four earned runs over 33 1/3 innings. On Wednesday, he allowed the same output on one Brandon Crawford swing.

• Also interesting, the 8-0 final is the largest road shutout win in a winner-take-all game since the Yankees beat the Dodgers, 9-0, in Game 7 of the 1956 World Series.

• The Giants do it again in the postseason. What will it take to eliminate this battle-tested and confident team?

• Clint Hurdle's lack of urgency in an elimination game. When Volquez ran into problems in the fourth inning, Hurdle was in no rush to call the bullpen. Pittsburgh's first reliever only started warming after the critical damage had been done. Why the wait with the season on the line and Bumgarner dealing like an ace?

The Giants advance to play the Washington Nationals in the NLDS. Game 1 is set for Friday in Washington with a 3:07 p.m. ET first pitch. No starting pitchers have been announced.

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Mark Townsend

is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813