The San Francisco Giants are headed back to the postseason for the first time since 2014, clinching the final National League wild-card spot Sunday thanks to a 7-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on the last day of the regular season.
MLB shared the news on Twitter:
Dating back to 2010, the Giants have won the World Series every other year, and Sunday's victory kept the streak alive at least for another few days.
The Giants' Twitter account was well aware of the team's recent success:
Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports believes in San Francisco's ability in the playoffs:
The Giants will play the New York Mets at Citi Field on Wednesday afternoon for an opportunity to advance to the National League Division Series for a meeting with the juggernaut Chicago Cubs.
Wayne Randazzo of WOR 710 discussed the pitching matchup for the Wild Card Game battle:
Jayson Stark of ESPN.com provided an interesting note on the regular season's final game:
Veteran pitcher Jake Peavy addressed the home crowd after the win, as the Giants shared on Twitter:
Meanwhile, the real celebration took place a short time later in the locker room:
The Giants, who have won three World Series titles in the past six years, were coming off a disappointing 2015 campaign in which they missed the playoffs with an 84-78 record. They overhauled their starting rotation, bringing in new signings Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija to support ace Madison Bumgarner, which immediately made them a more threatening team.
Behind their impressive pitching staff, the Giants were the class of the National League for the first half of the season. Through July 10, San Francisco was 57-33, the best record in the big leagues, and was 6.5 games up on the Los Angeles Dodgers for first place in the National League West.
But after the All-Star break, things fell apart, and the Giants went 11-25 over the next month and a half, squandering the division lead to the Dodgers for good.
Los Angeles clinched the division for the fourth straight season Sept. 25, forcing the Giants to fight for their postseason lives in the wild-card race with the New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals.
The Giants and Mets tied for the top spot, although New York will be at home Wednesday thanks to its 4-3 advantage during the regular season. The Cardinals ended up one game out of the playoffs.
Alex Pavlovic of CSN Bay Area noted the Giants are streaking at the right time:
When the Giants defeated the Kansas City Royals in the 2014 World Series, they were an 88-win wild-card team that had gotten hot at the right time.
However, playing the Mets, who rely on home runs, the Giants might not have the power to keep up. San Francisco didn't have one player record 20 or more home runs this year.
If they get past the Mets in the Wild Card Game, the Giants will have to rely on their pitching and the winning experience of Bumgarner and Cueto to limit the high-powered offensive lineups of other National League contenders in the postseason.
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