Record Crowd Sees Giants Shut Out Pirates In NL Wild Card

A "record crowd" of 40,629 was on hand at PNC Park for last night's Giants-Pirates NL Wild Card game, with the Giants winning 8-0 (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 10/2). The Giants opened AT&T Park for a free watch party and an hour before the first pitch, "lines were 30 to 40 deep to get in" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 10/2).

Under the header, "Despite Giants' Win, Wild-Card Round Is A Joke," the S.F. CHRONICLE's Scott Ostler writes, "It's like selecting Miss America based on best wink." The current format enacted in '12 "brings a high-noon drama to the sport, but at the expense of the game's pace and integrity. It's an artificial and unfair round, awkwardly shoehorned into the playoff schedule for the sake of money. So baseball. So Bud Selig" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 10/2).