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).