Madison Bumgarner Named MVP of NLCS: Latest Comments and Reaction

Travis Ishikawa may be remembered as the hero after his game-winning, three-run homer to send the San Francisco Giants to the World Series, but Madison Bumgarner gave him the chance.

The Giants ace went 8.0 strong innings in Game 5 Thursday night, striking out five while allowing three runs, five hits and two walks. For his efforts, he was named NLCS MVP, per MLB's Twitter feed:

And as many were hoping, he once again one-upped himself in the beer-chugging category, via Sporting News' Jesse Spector:

Bumgarner got off to a shaky start on the mound, giving up three runs in the first four innings. He settled down, though, retiring the last 13 batters he faced to help keep San Francisco close which allowed Michael Morse and Ishikawa to come through with the key blasts.

Former 49ers star Ronnie Lott was impressed with Bumgarner's ability to find a groove despite not having his best stuff:

Of course, being named MVP goes beyond just his Game 5 performance. Bumgarner was lights out in Game 1, as he tossed 7.2 scoreless innings to lead the Giants to a 3-0 victory. He finished the series with a minuscule 1.72 ERA and 0.77 WHIP in two starts.

The Game 1 outing forced Fox Sports' Jon Morosi to offer immense praise:

Bumgarner, who also tossed a complete-game shutout in the Wild Card Game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, now owns a 1.42 ERA and 0.76 WHIP with 28 strikeouts in 31.2 postseason innings this year.

ESPN Stats & Info noted another impressive stat:

It's not as if this is coming out of nowhere. Bumgarner is one of the best pitchers in the league, but he seems to have an ability to push it into an extra gear during the most important moments.

Now, the Giants will be hoping Bumgarner can find a way to somehow outdo his NLCS MVP performance in the World Series against the Kansas City Royals. Considering he already has 15.0 scoreless Fall Classic innings on his resume, that's not an unreasonable request.