AT&T PARK — Madison Bumgarner and Buster Posey went where no battery had gone before.
Posey and Bumgarner became the first pitcher and catcher to hit grand slams in the same game in baseball history as the Giants handled the Arizona Diamondbacks 8-4 Sunday to cruise into the All-Star break.
The Giants were 37-15 when hitting a home run going into Sunday’s game.
They improved that record to 38-15 — and 2-0 when Bumgarner hits a grand slam — after Posey hit his an inning earlier.
Posey’s slam came in the fifth on a 1-0 fastball from Vidal Nuno that gave the Giants a 4-1 lead. He described the importance of the at-bat after Sunday’s win:
“I feel like we’ve been needing a big hit. You’re just trying to get on the board at that point. To get four across was great.”
The Giants loaded them up again in the sixth for Bumgarner and the Giants pitcher turned on Matt Stites‘ first pitch, a 98 mph fastball, for his third home run and second grand slam of the season to left to make it 8-1.
The grand slam was a humbling moment for Bumgarner:
“It’s crazy to get that many opportunities as a pitcher. You don’t really get that opportunity very often and just to run into something was pretty special.”
Bumgarner (W, 10-7, 3.47 ERA) left to a standing ovation after 6-1/3 innings, four earned runs and five strikeouts.
Manager Bruce Bochy talked about the gravity of Sunday’s win after the game:
“Great win. It’s good to take the series. We thought this was, really, a critical game as we go into the break.”
Old friend Cody Ross also went yard in the game with a two-run shot in the seventh to make it 8-3.
Nuno (L, 2-6, 5.10 ERA) took the loss in his second game with the Diamondbacks after his trade from the New York Yankees. He pitched five innings of four-run ball with one walk and four strikeouts.
Santiago Casilla sealed the win with a perfect ninth.
The Giants will relax this week and send Hunter Pence and Tim Hudson to the 85th All-Star Game in Minnesota Tuesday. The game starts at 7 p.m.
They will resume play on Friday when they travel to Miami to play the Marlins. Game time is 4:10 p.m.
The Giants won their first series at AT&T Park since they swept the New York Mets in three games from June 6-8. … Today’s grand slams marked the third time during the Giants’ West Coast era that two players hit a grand slam in the same game. The last time was Sept. 19,1998 against the Los Angeles Dodgers (Bill Mueller and Jeff Kent) and the first tandem to do it was Willie McCovey and Dick Deitz April 26, 1970. … Madison Bumgarner’s 12 RBIs this season currently ranks second for most by a Giants pitcher in a season. Juan Marichal holds the record for 15 in 1966.
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Last modified July 13, 2014 11:24 pm
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