Madison Bumgarner Proving He's the Only Shutdown Ace Left in MLB Postseason

The 2014 postseason hasn't been a kind one to the very best starting pitchers—except for Madison Bumgarner. In dominating the host St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday, the San Francisco Giants left-hander not only earned the win in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series, but he also reinforced that he's the last and lone shutdown starter still standing this month.

With the 3-0 win, the Giants now have captured 12 of their last 13 October games since 2012, and Bumgarner is a big reason why.

The 25-year-old, who whiffed seven while hurling 7.2 scoreless frames, established a playoff record with 26.2 consecutive innings on the road without allowing a run, dating back to 2010.

PITCHER	INNINGS	YEARS OF STREAK
Madison Bumgarner	26.2	2010-Current
Art Nehf	23.0	1921-24
Mariano Rivera	21.1	1998-01
Christy Mathewson	21.0	1905-11
Catfish Hunter	19.1	1973-76

"I think it's just happened to work out that way," Bumgarner said on the postgame broadcast when asked to explain why he's been such an on-the-road revelation. "I don't really do anything different. I just try to go out there and make pitches. I've just been lucky enough to have the ball bounce my way on the road."

Bumgarner's mindset is also a part of his success away from home, as he told Barry Bloom of MLB.com before Game 1:

"

I don't like anybody to be able to tell how I'm feeling. ... I try to stay even keel, and I don't want you guys or the other team or the fans or anyone knowing where my head is at, at that time... I like to just try to keep the same demeanor no matter what's happening. It's obviously easier said than done sometimes. ...

... For me, it's just learning all about what kind of mental preparation I need to have when I go out there. I just like to slow everything down and just treat it like another game and focus on making pitches.

"

Doesn't sound like much, but apparently, that does the trick for Bumgarner, who began this October with a four-hit shutout of the red-hot Pittsburgh Pirates in the NL Wild Card Game—yep, that was on the road too—and whose playoff accomplishments continue to pile up, each one more impressive than the last.

Overall this October, Bumgarner now has easily the best numbers among any pitcher who has made at least two starts for his team:

PITCHER	GS	IP	K:BB	WHIP	ERA
Madison Bumgarner	3	23.2	23:3	0.72	0.76
Bud Norris	2	10.2	9:2	1.22	3.38
Yordano Ventura	2	13.0	8:4	1.23	4.85
James Shields	3	16.0	15:5	1.63	5.63
Chris Tillman	2	9.1	9:3	1.50	6.75
Clayton Kershaw	2	12.2	19:2	1.11	7.82
Adam Wainwright	2	9.0	7:4	2.33	8.00

Heck, his Game 1 matchup with Cardinals No. 1 Adam Wainwright was hyped as an "ace-off":

Alas, it didn't play out as such, because Wainwright failed to show up for the second time in his two turns these playoffs, perhaps in part because he's fighting through an elbow injury that is more serious than he's letting on, according to Adam McCalvy of MLB.com.

But it's not just Wainwright who has struggled among the No. 1 starters in these playoffs.

The Los Angeles Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw—the presumptive NL Cy Young winner and MVP front-runner—fell apart late in his two outings, both of which came against the very Cardinals club that Bumgarner held in check all night.

Then there's the Kansas City Royals' "Big Game" James Shields, who continues to sport the most misleading moniker in MLB:

And whether it's Chris Tillman or any of the other No. 3-type starters in the Baltimore Orioles rotation, they just don't come close to Bumgarner.

All of which caused Jon Morosi of Fox Sports to proclaim:

While that might come off as hyperbole pumped up by the fact that Bumgarner's latest playoff gem was still in the middle of being scripted, it is indisputable that Bumgarner has been the best starting pitcher in this postseason.

With the way Bumgarner is throwing—especially compared to the other "aces"—the Giants have a distinct advantage every time he's on the mound this October.

In a postseason that hasn't done much to perpetuate the conventional thinking that a team needs a shutdown starter, the Giants are the only club that can claim it has one at the moment.

That's a very valuable commodity at this stage, and it could be just the thing that not only puts San Francisco into its third World Series in the past five seasons, but also helps it pull off its even-year title run again.

Statistics are accurate through Oct. 11 and courtesy of MLB.com, Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs, unless otherwise noted.

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