walked and Joe Panik hit an RBI groundout to give the Giants a 2–0 lead. Vogelsong held the Nationals hitless until the fifth inning, when Ian Desmond singled and Bryce Harper doubled him home to cut the Giants' lead to 2–1. The Giants threatened against Nationals reliever Tanner Roark in the bottom of the fifth by loading the bases, but manager Matt Williams summoned Jerry Blevins to face Brandon Belt, whom he struck out to end the threat. Bryce Harper tied up the game in the top of the seventh inning with a towering home run off Hunter Strickland into McCovey Cove, Harper's third home run of the series and second off of Strickland. Left-hander Matt Thornton started the bottom of the seventh inning by getting the first out but allowed singles to Joe Panik and Buster Posey. He was replaced by Aaron Barrett, who walked Hunter Pence to load the bases. Facing Pablo Sandoval, Barrett threw a wild pitch which allowed Panik to score what would prove to be the game-winning run. The Nationals then proceeded to attempt to intentional walk Sandoval, but Barrett's threw another wild pitch. However, this time Posey was thrown out at the plate trying to score, with replay confirming it. Sergio Romo pitched a perfect eighth, and Santiago Casilla followed with a scoreless ninth. After issuing a two-out walk to Bryce Harper, Casilla retired Wilson Ramos on a groundout to eliminate the Nationals and send the Giants to their third NLCS in five years. According to Elias Sports Bureau, this was the fourth time in MLB postseason history that the winning run in a series-clinching game scored on a wild pitch in the seventh inning or later, after the 1927 Yankees (9th inning), 1972 Reds (9th inning), and 2004 Yankees (11th inning). Composite line score 2014 NLDS (3–1): San Francisco Giants over Washington Nationals Los Angeles vs. St. Louis The Dodgers and Cardinals met in the postseason for the fifth time, with the Cardinals having won three of the first four matchups, including the previous year's NLCS which the Cardinals won 4 games to 2. Game 1 This game was hailed as the first post-season matchup of 20 game winners (the Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw and the Cardinals' Adam Wainwright) since Curt Schilling faced Roger Clemens in Game seven of the 2001 World Series. However, neither pitcher was his usual self. The Cardinals jumped out