http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/06/sports/baseball/new-york-mets-san-francisco-giants-nl-wild-card.html 2016-10-06 06:21:57 Conor Gillaspie’s Home Run Lifts Giants Over Mets in N.L. Wild-Card Game Gillaspie’s three-run homer in the top of the ninth off Jeurys Familia ended the Mets’ season despite an outstanding start from Noah Syndergaard. === Baseball can be so cruel. The Yet the postseason demons emerged once again for Jeurys Familia, the Mets’ closer. After seven dazzling innings from starter Noah Syndergaard and an impressive escape by Addison Reed in the eighth, the Mets turned to Familia, their All-Star closer who led the major leagues in saves. In nearly 78 regular-season innings, Familia gave up one home run. But Giants third baseman Conor Gillaspie, who started only because of an injury to one of his teammates, smashed a three-run homer with one out in the ninth inning, giving the Giants a 3-0 win that ended the Mets’ improbable postseason run. It was surprising that the Mets were in the playoffs, given all the injuries and struggles they endured. But with the way Syndergaard was pitching on Wednesday night, even defeating the Giants and Madison Bumgarner, one of the greatest postseason pitchers, felt possible. The Mets pulled themselves back from the ledge of defeat many times: With Curtis Granderson’s wall-slamming catch in the sixth inning, with Syndergaard’s guile in a seventh-inning jam, and with Reed’s escape in the eighth. But Bumgarner would not be overcome. Bumgarner fired a complete-game shutout on 119 pitches. And when Familia began to struggle, it was clear the Mets were in trouble. He blew three saves in the World Series last season but was impressive this season. He took the mound in the ninth inning of a scoreless game. He coughed up a leadoff double to Brandon Crawford and walked Joe Panik with one out. Then he left a 96-mile-per-hour fastball over the middle to Gillaspie. The Mets could produce nothing in the bottom of the ninth against Bumgarner, and watched from the dugout as the Giants celebrated on their field. Before the game, the Giants seemed to be a difficult matchup for Syndergaard. With his blazing fastball and strong command, Syndergaard finished the season fourth in the N.L. with 218 strikeouts, but the Giants finished the regular season with the fewest strikeouts in the league. Still, his pitches were so overpowering that even the Giants could not help themselves. Syndergaard carved through the Giants’ lineup with hellish pitches. He used his fastball to contort the Giants hitters’ swings, then turned to his changeup and sliders in the later innings. The crowd at Citi Field was electric enough to awake all of Queens. Fans stood all of the first inning, waving orange towels. They were emboldened with every 98-m.p.h. fastball from Syndergaard. But with two outs in the sixth, Denard Span slapped a single up the middle to break up Syndergaard’s no-hitter. Span, who had failed to steal second base after a walk in the fourth inning, successfully did so in the sixth. But as quickly as the Citi Field crowd was deflated by the hit and the runner threatening at second, its liveliness returned with a spectacular catch by Granderson. Giants first baseman Brandon Belt slammed a ball deep to center field. Granderson was the Mets’ regular right fielder until the team acquired Jay Bruce in a trade. Granderson, despite being 35, was the best equipped on the roster to play center field, and he did so without complaining. So when Belt’s ball looked troublesome, Granderson raced back, reached for the ball, caught it and slammed into the center-field wall. Syndergaard waited near the dugout steps to thank Granderson for the catch. Syndergaard encountered trouble again in the seventh. With two outs, he walked Crawford on his 100th pitch of the game. Immediately, the Mets’ bullpen phone rang, and the left-handed reliever Jerry Blevins started warming up. Manager Terry Collins stuck with Syndergaard, and he coughed up an infield single to Angel Pagan. First baseman James Loney could not reach the ball, and Pagan beat second baseman T. J. Rivera’s throw to first. Still, Collins stuck with Syndergaard against Panik, a left-handed hitter. On his 108th pitch of the game, Syndergaard got Panik to chop a ground ball up the middle, which Syndergaard deflected and shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera recovered to throw to first for the inning’s final out. In the dugout, Syndergaard shook hands with teammates. In a do-or-die game, he delivered the pitching performance of the season for the Mets by throwing seven scoreless innings and striking out 10. But as the Giants contended with Syndergaard, the Mets were overwhelmed by Bumgarner. The Mets barely made Bumgarner break a sweat in the early innings. He threw just 21 pitches to get the first nine outs of the game. Five of the first six Mets hitters, swinging aggressively, popped out. In the fourth inning, Cabrera ripped a single down the third-base line with one out. Although Yoenis Cespedes struck out and Granderson lined out to end the inning, the Mets made Bumgarner work and got his pitch count up to 49 with longer at-bats. As Mets failed to produce against Bumgarner, the Giants nearly found their opponent’s breaking point in the eighth. With Syndergaard out of the game, the Mets turned to Reed, who quickly found himself in a jam. He surrendered a single to Gillaspie. He walked Belt with two outs, bothered that he did not get calls on pitches at the knees. After Rene Rivera dropped a pitch that allowed the runners to each advance a base, the Mets intentionally walked Buster Posey. For the first time all night, the bases were loaded. Yet Reed managed to pull the Mets back from disaster. He struck out Hunter Pence and walked off the mound, shouting and pumping his fist. The Mets and Giants continued trading blows. Every base runner was precious, and pinch hitter Ty Kelly singled with one out in the bottom of the eighth inning. It seemed like the moment for the Mets to seize upon, with the top of the order coming up. After Kelly advanced to second on a groundout by Reyes, Cabrera lined a ball up the middle. Bumgarner snared it, let out a primal scream, and threw the ball into the stands as he walked off the field. Yet again, Bumgarner could not be conquered.