NEW YORK -- When the San Francisco Giants got the slimmest of leads in the race for the National Leagues final wild-card spot about 10 days ago, it turned out to be a season-ending mistake by the team they were jostling with, the St. Louis Cardinals. It may also have unleashed something devastating on every other team still competing for a World Series ring.Its October and its an even year.The Giants got a little momentum going and weve seen them do that plenty of times, Cardinals infielder Matt Carpenter said.The San Francisco Giants are at it again, trying to add a 2016 title to a 2014 title, a 2012 title and a 2010 title. Is there a pattern here? The latest wrinkle isnt even a new wrinkle. Once again, the Giants have to survive a winner-takes-all wild-card game, on the road, to get to their goal. Two Octobers ago, they went into an absolutely rollicking PNC Park in Pittsburgh and, behind Madison Bumgarners complete-game shutout, beat the Pirates 8-0.I remember just walking in from the bullpen in Pittsburgh and thinking and taking a second to look around, because even 10-15 minutes before the game, it was rocking, Buster Posey said. I expect it to be the same here tomorrow.New York Mets fans might want to consider trying something new to get Bumgarner a little rattled Wednesday in an 8 p.m. ET National League wild-card game on ESPN: eerie silence. Making a lot of noise and yelling nasty things at him doesnt seem to work. Bumgarner has a 0.60 ERA in postseason road games, the best mark of its kind in baseball history.Its not like hes bad at AT&T Park. Bumgarner is 7-3 with one save and a 2.14 ERA in 14 postseason games. Its almost as if October baseball games are his native habitat. He has been pitching in the World Series since a couple of months after he turned 21.I think, like a lot of great athletes and pitchers, he is just really good in the moment, Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. Theyre such good competitors. They dont let the game itself, the magnitude of the game, bother them.In the four years of the one-game wild-card format, the team that starts the more-experienced starting pitcher has won seven of the eight games. The lone exception was the Giants in 2014, when Bumgarner, in his fourth full season, easily out-pitched veteran Edinson Volquez. If the Mets are to buck that trend, theyll at least have Noah Syndergaards 2015 October experience in their corner. He made four postseason starts and had a 3.32 ERA, including a strong outing in Game 3 of the World Series.Mets manager Terry Collins was asked Tuesday what can be done to slow down the Bumgarner Express in October. The only thing he could grab onto was using Bumgarners aggressiveness against him, where thats possible.Like all great pitchers, he throws strikes, Collins said. So, the one thing youve got to go up with is a little bit of a plan. Try to get something you can handle and dont miss it. Dont foul it off. Put it in play.For much of August and September, the Giants seemed to be playing themselves out of postseason contention. But that doesnt just seem possible when the year in question is divisible by two. The Giants rallied late, winning six of their last eight games, including their last four, to keep the Cardinals at bay. Needless to say, the Giants dont have much to say about the even-year phenomenon.Doesnt matter what number they call the year, Hunter Pence said. Its right now and its a game between the Giants and Mets, playing what we love to do, playing for what we dream about.Whats to be made of the even-year pattern? A lot of theories have been floated for the Giants every-other-year dynasty. The most reasonable is that the extra innings burden on the pitchers tends to lead to a hangover effect the following season. In 2014, for example, the Giants piled 52? postseason innings on top of the 217? Bumgarner had already pitched in the regular season. Even that one is easily sliced and diced, though. Bumgarners 2015 season was almost identical to his 2014 season. He pitched just one more inning, in fact. He said he wishes he had an explanation for the teams back-and-forth fortunes.There is no sense in having to take a year off after youve had that long season, he drawled.Other than being able to throw one of the best pitchers in the game and one of the most ferocious competitors in sports at the other team, the Giants also present a few other matchup problems in October. They dont beat themselves, which sometimes feels like half the battle in loud, chaotic environments.The Giants are one of the best-fielding teams in baseball. Their 70 defensive runs saved (DRS) ranked third in baseball and their infielders ranked even higher. They dont strike out much. They had the second-best strikeout rate in the majors. Six of the past 10 teams to reach the World Series finished in the top five of the majors in strikeout rate.Its as if this team were designed by scientists somewhere to excel in the most pressure-packed games. Now it has been set loose on the world. Cheap NFL Jerseys China . Breaking three of his own world records on his way to winning in Paris, Chan silenced the critics and left the audiences standing in appreciation and awe. Cheap NFL Jerseys . Gather a group of friends, or find a league to join online, draft your team, set your lineup and compete in a number of different formats. http://www.cheapjerseysthrowback.com/ . -- Whether Jeremy Hill deserves a prominent role in LSUs offence this early in the season is a matter for debate. Wholesale Jerseys USA . -- Jimmy Walkers first PGA Tour trophy came with a special gift tucked inside. Cheap Jersyes . It is a cliché dragged out by fans and pundits regularly when discussions take place around which teams are better than others. A member of the AFLs laws of the game committee believes umpires made a bad error in awarding a costly 50m penalty against Sydney that gifted Hawthorn a goal in their five-point win.Swans captain Kieren Jack was controversially penalised for entering the protected zone of Hawk Jonathan ORourke right on three-quarter time at the SCG on Thursday night, allowing the visitors to slot a crucial major.Former Collingwood premiership player Michael Christian, who is on the AFLs laws committee, said it was a mistake to penalise Jack because he had already been in the protected zone when ORourke marked.You have to get out of the area immediately but you dont have to run sideways nor on an angle, Christian told radio station RSN on Friday morning.The rule is designed if youre outside the protected zone and you run into the protected zone, 50 straight away.But when youre already in there youve got to give time to the player to run out.I think it was a mistake by the umpire because he was already in there.He ran out immediately. He didnt sprint, but he was going quickly enough to get out of the area, realised he was in there and the whistle blew.Bad error, I reckon.It was one of two late 50m penalties against the Swans and preceded another given against Ben McGlynn, who was deemed to have entered the protected zone in a dramatic final quarter, leading Jonathon Ceglar to score.ddddddddddddThe Twitter hashtag #FreeKickHawthorn went viral as Swans fans vented their frustrations, but AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan reckoned the penalties were both clearly there.I dont think anyones disputing the 50s were there, McLachlan told 3AW.Sydney coach John Longmire wasnt sure whether the interpretation of the 50m rule had changed, but didnt intend to seek clarification from the AFLs umpiring department.I dont know, ask the umpires, I really dont know to be honest, Longmire said.A miffed Longmire did question the games uneven free-kick count, which finished at 15-9 to the Hawks but had been more lopsided earlier.Obviously we were undisciplined because the free-kick count was 3-13 at three-quarter time, Longmire said.I dont think Ive seen a differential like that for quite a while.Well have to get better at our discipline, clearly, because thats a big differential.Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson found the umpiring to be pretty strong but observed the obvious challenge with the 50m rule lay in the consistency of its interpretation. 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