Bumgarner stops the bleeding, shuts down Phillies to end skid

The Giants 5-0 victory over the Phillies at Oracle Park Thursday night was all about Madison Bumgarner (W, 7-7, 3.74 ERA).

Not only did he put on a clinic on the mound with a one-hit, seven-inning shutout, he singlehandedly put together more offense against the Phillies than the entire Philadelphia team mustered against him.

In his first start back at Oracle Park since the organization that drafted him opted not to trade him in the final months of his contract at the deadline, MadBum put on a show for a City that adores him, playing the familiar role of stopper and putting to an end a four-game losing streak the day after enduring a sweep by the Nationals.

Over the months of rumors that reached a fever pitch at the tail end of last week’s road trip, many Giants fans had implored President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi not to trade Bumgarner. With the trade deadline finally past, Thursday marked the first time all season fans could perhaps fully appreciate watching the big lefty perform at home without an undercurrent of anxiety over whether it was the last time.

And Bumgarner left it all on the field for the occasion:

“This is an extremely special place to me and I appreciate everything that these fans have done for me and for this team. This is an awesome place to play.”

Up until the fourth inning, Bumgarner was actually perfect, but he issued a one-out walk to Rhys Hoskins for the outing’s first blemish. The second came when the Phillies opted to pinch-hit for Aaron Nola (L, 10-3, 3.67 ERA) in the sixth, whom the Giants (57-59) had been batting around. César Hernández, muscled a 2-0 fastball into centerfield for a single.

Bumgarner said he was cognizant of the no-hitter as it was going, but it’s not something he was focused on:

“I never believe when guys say they don’t know [they have a no-hitter going]. I also don’t care about it. I just want to win the game, I’m not out there for any kind of personal achievements or goals like that.”

It was all the Phils could do to get a hit, though. Roman Quinn grounded into a double play to follow and that was the end of that. Philadelphia would get just one more baserunner Thursday night, and that was on an eighth-inning walk from Trevor Gott.

Bumgarner was economical and bulletproof and Giants skipper Bruce Bochy was deeply impressed with Bumgarner’s performance:

“I mean it’s hard to have a better game than what he did and we needed it because we were facing a really good pitcher in Nola. So it’s good to get a win here. It was a rough series, last series. Good bounce back tonight.

Bumgarner said he put extra work in between Thursday’s start and his last one in Colorado, which he described as “all-around shitty” at the time:

“I just didn’t feel like I could put the ball where I wanted to very good that day. So I ended up just putting a little extra work in each day. I don’t want to do that all the time but you can get by with i here and there.”

Bochy said the extra work Bumgarner put in throwing between starts is the reason he was hooked after just 85 pitches. Asked if he would have left Bumgarner in had the no-hitter still been in effect, Bochy said:

“That’s really an easy one there–sure. I don’t think I’d go get him unless he tells me he’s done, but you know, Madison, there’s no way he would have done that.”

Bumgarner was a pest offensively Thursday night, too, refusing to make an out. After Brandon Crawford led off the third with a single, Bumgarner won a nine-pitch battle with Nola, singling to left. Brandon Belt kept the line moving, rolling a single to right to score Crawford and bring up Mike Yastrzemski.

Yaz, who played Bumgarner’s supporting role in the series-opener with the Phillies, knocking in three of the Giants five runs, wasted no time swatting a 1-0 fastball into deep left field to clear the bases. He tried to stretch a double into a triple, though and made an out on the basepaths after Scott Kingery tagged him roughly in the face with his glove.

Yastrzemski has settled in as an everyday player with ease since rising to the big leagues in late-May, and carries himself with a poise so even-keeled that it’s easy to forget he is a rookie at times. He said he works to try to stay grounded and just focuses on the job he needs to do:

“The goal is to try and feel as comfortable as you can here and make this normal and real-life. It’s definitely something that I try and focus on and not get too caught up in a moment and reel things in.”

He added on for the Giants Thursday with a seventh-inning 403-foot dinger (11) over the right-field wall, tying his grandfather’s rookie season home run tally at 11, a number Carl Yastrzemski hit in 646 plate appearances compared with junior’s 242:

“He was a rookie when he was 21. I’m 28, so it’s a little different feat. I would more compare my 28-year numbers to his 28-year numbers, but I think his will be a little better.”

The elder Yaz hit 23 homers in his age 28 season (1968).

Bumgarner drew walks in his next two at-bats, the second of which saw a run plated with Nick Pivetta on the mound in relief of Nola. Kevin Pillar stole second with Crawford at-bat and took third on an error. After Crawford walked, Pivetta threw a wild pitch to Bumgarner and the big lefty waved Pillar home.

Gott and Will Smith kept the one-hitter in-tact for Bumgarner and the Giants turned the page on an ugly 1-6 start to August by winning game one of three against the Phillies (59-55).

Up Next

Tyler Beede (3-65.38 ERA) will try to regain form Friday in game two of three against Philadelphia as he takes on lefty Drew Smyly (2-6, 7.01 ERA) for a 7:15 p.m. contest at Oracle Park. In his last three starts Beede’s allowed a total of six homers and has posted an 8.10 ERA with a .406 batting-average-against.

Notes

Shaun Anderson was removed after just three innings in his start Wednesday with a blister on the middle finger of his right hand and was placed on the 10-day injured list Thursday.… Steven Duggar sustained a acromioclavicular joint sprain to his left shoulder Wednesday. His 2018 season was cut short after separating his left shoulder but Bochy said there was no damage to the previous surgical repair. The skipper also said they expect the young outfielder will be “down for a while.”… The Giants called up outfielder Joey Rickard from Triple-A to fill Duggar’s roster spot and reliever Sam Selman to fill Anderdson’s. …Bochy said left-fielder Alex Dickerson (right oblique strain) took swings in the cage for the first time since going on the 10-day injured list August 1… Bryce Harper went 0-for-3 snapping an MLB-leading 21-game on-base streak.

Julie Parker is SFBay’s San Francisco Giants beat writer. Follow @SFBay and @InsideThePark3r on Twitter and at SFBay.ca for full coverage of Giants baseball.