SF 6, STL 3: Ishikawa's walk-off blast sends Giants to World Series
Travis Ishikawa delivered a walk-off, three-run homer as the San Francisco Giants prevailed 6-3 over the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series to advance to the World Series.
Ishikawa took a Michael Wacha offering deep to right field with two men on and one out to send the Giants to their third World Series in the last five years.
Wacha, who hasn't taken the mound since Sept. 26, was brought on in the bottom of the ninth inning and immediately surrendered a base hit to Pablo Sandoval, got Hunter Pence to fly out, and then issued a walk to Brandon Belt to set the stage for Ishikawa's heroics.
Michael Morse tied the game at 3-3 with a pinch-hit solo blast in the bottom of the eighth inning off Pat Neshek. It was the Giants' first postseason pinch-hit home run since J.T. Snow went deep off Armando Benitez in the 2000 National League Division Series.
Joe Panik also got in on the long ball action, drilling a two-run shot off Adam Wainwright in the bottom of the third inning to give the Giants a 2-1 lead which would evaporate after Matt Adams and Tony Cruz belted solo homers for the Cardinals in the fourth.
Giants ace Madison Bumgarner turned in another solid outing, tossing eight solid innings of three-run ball to earn NLCS MVP honors. The lefty was also the Game 1 winner, throwing 7 2/3 scoreless innings.
Starting pitchers' lines
| Pitcher | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adam Wainwright | 7 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
| Madison Bumgarner | 8 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
X-factor
Giants manager Bruce Bochy was hoping Morse would make an impact with his bat when he included him on his NLCS roster. In just his fourth at-bat of the postseason, Morse single-handedly gave his team new life with his solo shot off Neshek. The outfielder had been battling a nagging oblique injury prior to the series.
Highlights
Ishikawa's walk-off homer sends Giants to World Series:
Morse's game-tying blast off Neshek:
(Courtesy: MLB.com)
Quotes of the Night
Pence said he can't remember Ishi homer. "I blacked out." #sfgiants
— Henry Schulman (@hankschulman) October 17, 2014
In center of booze scrum, Tim Hudson yells, "I waited 16 years for this!"
— Ted Berg (@OGTedBerg) October 17, 2014
Up Next
The Giants will now travel to Kansas City to take on the Royals for Game 1 of the World Series on Tuesday. It's the second time the wild card teams in the respective leagues will meet in the Fall Classic.
Only second time two wild cards advance to World Series. Angels and Giants did it in 2002. That's what you just need to get in tournament.
— Tom (@Haudricourt) October 17, 2014