Gamethread: 2014 NLDS Game 1

Due to the coronavirus outbreak suspending the 2020 MLB season, we’re rewatching the three San Francisco Giants postseason runs, game-by-game, on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday nights at 6 p.m. PT, with a gamethread for each.

After sneaking into the postseason with an 88-74 record, the San Francisco Giants easily dispatched the Pittsburgh Pirates in the NL Wild Card. Riding the backs of a Madison Bumgarner complete game shutout and a Brandon Crawford grand slam, the Giants beat the Pirates 8-0 to advance to the National League Division Series.

Now they square up against the NL East winners, the 96-66 Washington Nationals. The series starts with two games at Nationals Park.

The Giants are kicking things off by sending Jake Peavy to the mound. Peavy — who started the season with the Boston Red Sox — finished the year with a 7-13 record, a 3.73 ERA, a 4.11 FIP, and 158 strikeouts in 202.2 innings.

The Nationals are countering with Stephen Strasburg, who finished the year with a 14-11 record, a 3.14 ERA, a 2.94 FIP, and 242 strikeouts in 215 innings. He finished ninth in Cy Young Award voting.

We’re starting this rewatch at the same time as all the other ones: 6:00 p.m. PT. The good news is that the 2014 games are on YouTube by a different user than 2010 and 2012 were, and they A) don’t have commercial breaks, and B) are embeddable. The video is embedded at the bottom of the article, or you can find it at this link, or you can YouTube search “2014 NL Wild Card” and click the first link.

Here’s Matt Williams’ lineup:

1. Denard Span — CF
2. Anthony Rendon — 3B
3. Jayson Werth — RF
4. Adam LaRoche — 1B
5. Ian Desmond — SS
6. Bryce Harper — LF
7. Wilson Ramos — C
8. Asdrubal Cabrera — 2B
9. Stephen Strasburg — P

And Bruce Bochy’s squad:

1. Gregor Blanco — CF
2. Joe Panik — 2B
3. Buster Posey — C
4. Pablo Sandoval — 3B
5. Hunter Pence — RF
6. Brandon Belt — 1B
7. Brandon Crawford — SS
8. Travis Ishikawa — LF
9. Jake Peavy — P