Bumgardner did damage from the plate as well, going 2-3 with an RBI double and a solo home run.
Advertisement
The four-game sweep of the Nationals – the Giants’ first at home since May 28-30, 1971, against the franchise (then the Montreal Expos) – lifted them 11 games over.500, equaling their high-water mark for the season.
“I want to congratulate him twice: for the pitching and for the hitting”, Marichal said.
Here in the dog days, Bumgarner has become fully unleashed.
Vogelsong (8-8) allowed one run on three hits, struck out eight and walked four over five innings for his first victory in five starts since June 24 as San Francisco won for just the second time in seven games. “It’s a special outing. The command of the fastball has just been as good as it’s been all year”.
This wasn’t a day that should’ve favored the pitchers at China Basin.
Gonzalez (9-5) lasted only 2 2/3 innings, his shortest start since September 14, 2010. Instead, they were on full tilt all afternoon as the left-hander threw cutters on their hands.
Bumgarner wasn’t the only reason the Giants hoisted another Commissioner’s Trophy in 2014. “I made a number of errors and factor added up on me”. After Buster Posey grounded out, Pence hit a hanging slider halfway up the left field bleachers for his ninth homer of the season. It certainly is for me, regardless of the result. I’d be easy to be satisfied with three wins against a good team like that.
Always ornery on the mound, Bumgarner (14-6) might have stamped dirt with a little more gumption than usual because the Nationals rang him up for six runs on July 4 in Washington.
However, the team did have a bright moment in last night’s loss to the Giants and it was truly a team effort.
But that would be it for the Nationals (58-57), who remain four and a half games back of the New York Mets (63-53) in the National League East. “Coming off that road trip, getting swept in a four-game series, for us to be resilient and bounce back and play some great ball here and get on track…The pitching, the bullpen, we really clicked everywhere in this series”.
“We’ll take the day off, regroup, hit the reset button and come back and try to get hot”, Washington’s Ryan Zimmerman said. All three hits Bumgarner allowed were singles. Bumgarner snagged a line drive back up the middle by Ian Desmond. The Giants have been using.219-hitting OF Justin Maxwell in Aoki’s place in left field.
SAN FRANCISCO – Matt Duffy hit a three-run double in San Francisco’s decisive six-run third inning and a late run-scoring double, Jake Peavy worked into the sixth to end a three-start winless stretch and the Giants beat the Nationals for the third straight game with a 12-6 win Saturday night.
For a minute, it seemed that the Giants had no answer this time around.
Hunter Pence smacked a two-run home run off Nationals right-hander Joe Ross, who couldn’t maintain his early dominance after retiring the Giants the first time through the order while striking out five.
If the Nationals don’t get their act in gear soon, they may see their window of opportunity slam shut.
Bumgarner might have received a dash of charity from the official scorer in the fifth when his hard-hit liner to right got past Harper. A clutch double from none other than Madison Bumgarner scored the fourth run of the game.
San Francisco Giants’ Madison Bumgarner (40) swings for a home run off Washington Nationals’ Casey Janssen in the seventh inning of a baseball game Sunday, August 16, 2015, in San Francisco.
Advertisement
The Nationals series signaled the beginning of crunch time for the Giants.
