Maddon experimented with pitchers batting eighth for the Cubs and Tony LaRussa did it with the St. Louis Cardinals en route to two World Series championships.
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Manager Bob Melvin said before the game the club was hoping to have Doolittle back after the All-Star break, when his time on the disabled list would be up.
Especially in this case, when they were staring at the possibility of a sweep in the Bay Bridge Series.
Charged by the pitching and hitting heroics of ace Madison Bumgarner (W, 9-4, 2.20 ERA) the Giants (50-31) salvaged a single win in the four-game set.
Bumgarner boomed a double in his first at-bat and it touched off a six-run torching of A’s left-hander Dillon Overton.
San Francisco added on late, getting Belt’s two-run single.
The Giants ultimately knocked Overton out of the game in the fourth on back-to-back doubles to open the inning. Bumgarner is probably their best option.
“He’s got the talent to hit and he likes to hit”. I mean, that’s definitely pretty special that I got a chance to do that. He said he wasn’t able to make the adjustments he usually does – and Overton knew Bumgarner had the ability to hurt him at the plate.
Giant manger Bruce Bochy’s decision to forgo the designated in favor of allowing his slugging starter Bumgarner to bat came into play in the third. Tampa Bay’s Andy Sonnanstine (in the lineup by mistake in 2009) and Texas’ Fergie Jenkins in 1974 have the others. He took a huge rip at the first pitch and popped out. And while the A’s bullpen would put a freeze on the Giants’ explosive tendencies, the damage was done.
More than a few baseball fans were enticed by the idea of seeing the game’s best hitting pitcher slug it out against the best home run hitters in MLB. “That’s been nixed. It’s out for this year, but they’ll revisit it next year”.
“That’s done, there will be no Home Run Derby for Madison”, Bochy said.
Bochy said the idea was his, and it made sense for several reasons: the A’s were starting a left-handed pitcher, the Giants are extremely limited from the right side, and Bumgarner is a power threat.
The right fielder was again involved in the seventh, as he was on base when Yonder Alonso delivered Bumgarner’s knockout blow – a two-run dinger.
With his team trying to reverse trend following three ugly losses, it’s a risk that Bochy is willing to take.
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Bumgarner is a great hitter for being a pitcher, but he’s hardly a great hitter when compared to the standard designated hitter.
