Yusmiero Petit threw 80 pitches Saturday night, the weight of a playoff game resting on every single one.
From the 12th through the 17th innings of the Game 2 epic at Nationals Park, the burly Giants right-hander, usually San Francisco’s fourth or fifth starter, knew any mistake could end the game in an instant.
“Being a starting pitcher you never pitch like that,” said Giants right fielder Hunter Pence. “You’re pitching to contain a game, give your team a chance to win. But there was literally no room for error [Saturday], so that was extremely impressive.”
The same description could be applied to just about every aspect of the Giants’ postseason run as they reach the verge of closing out the Washington Nationals on Monday afternoon in Game 3 of the National League Division Series.
San Francisco was the last team into the NL playoff field, and as such was forced to fly to Pittsburgh for a one-and-done wild-card game. Playing before a frenzied PNC Park crowd, the Giants jumped on Pirates pitching and settled in to watch their ace at work.
Madison Bumgarner’s complete-game shutout sent them on to D.C., and he’s the man the Nationals will have to overcome Monday if they want to keep their second trip to the postseason alive.
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In the wake of the Giants’ 18-inning win Saturday night, several players mentioned Bumgarner’s name, unprompted, as they looked forward to their overnight charter flight back home.
Said Game 2 hero Brandon Belt: “I think we’re confident with Bum on the mound on Monday.”
Sensational rookie second baseman Joe Panik: “We’ve got Bum going Monday, so we know we’ve got some good things to look forward to.”
Veteran starter Tim Hudson: “We’ve got Bum going on Monday, and I like our chances against anybody with that guy on the hill.”
Their faith is well-placed — the 25-year-old, among other attributes, has allowed five hits and zero runs in 15 career World Series innings. But it hardly ends with Bumgarner.
The Giants have won 10 consecutive postseason games stretching back to their run to the 2012 World Series championship. That’s tied for the third-longest playoff run of all time, and it has been driven by stingy pitching. San Francisco has outscored its opponents 49-10 in those games, including five shutouts.
Simply put, they know what they’re doing when the calendar turns to October, and their confidence is palpable.
Panik, a 23-year-old who didn’t make his big-league debut until mid-June, marveled at the poise in the visitors’ dugout as Game 2 unfolded with the Giants teetering on the brink of a loss for upwards of five hours.
“Everyone was just pressing forward in a positive way — ’Let’s go, we’ve got this, keep battling,’” he said. “Everybody was upbeat and positive.”
And when Belt’s home run off Tanner Roark in the top of the 18th finally provided the winning margin, there was more professional satisfaction than pandemonium. They know they haven’t won anything yet.
Thirteen years ago, Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder lifted Oakland to a pair of wins at Yankee Stadium to open their ALDS against New York. Those were the A’s 103rd and 104th victories of the season, and as it turned out, their last. The Yankees won three straight to take the series on the way to losing to Matt Williams and the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 7 of the World Series.
Standing in the Giants’ clubhouse Saturday night, Hudson quickly summoned that memory.
“Obviously, going up 2-0 is great,” he said. “You’ve still got one more.”
• Marc Lancaster can be reached at mlancaster@washingtontimes.com.
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