Bumgarner apparently imagined some sort of disrespect from Puig, reacted to this figment of his imagination, and effectively pulled himself out of the game. Bumgarner said “He tried to stare me down or something”.
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Both teams had two of the best left-handers in the game going, with Madison Bumgarner and Clayton Kershaw but the Giants bullpen had another rough night struggling in the second half of the season and has now blown saves in the last two games.
Kenley Jansen and Justin Turner appear to be the other Dodgers in the photo.
With two out in the seventh, Puig hit a dribbler down the first-base line and Bumgarner turned to throw him out. So, what does that mean? While his strikeouts have gone up on the road, he’s been dominant at home in AT&T Park, going 8-4 with a 2.04 ERA and sub-1.00 WHIP in 16 starts in 2016. You do the math.
Bumgarner allowed one hit over seven scoreless innings, struck out 10, walked none and retired his final 10 batters.
Boston moved closing to winning the AL East with a 5-2 win over Baltimore as Rick Porcello won his 21st game and should win the Cy Young Award.
Because it’s that time of the year and tempers are flaring across baseball, there was some anger in the Orioles-Red Sox matchup on Monday, too.
Puig and Bumgarner first made headlines during Monday’s Giants-Dodgers game when they got into it after a play at first base.
The Dodgers now hold a commanding lead in the National League West while the Giants are fighting for their playoff lives, tied for the second Wild Card spot.
It didn’t seem possible a week ago, but the Giants, with their bullpen troubles, may be the team left out when the season ends October 2.
The Mets are gunning for an NL wild-card spot, and with their most recent loss, the race just keeps getting tighter.
But Bumgarner didn’t beat the Royals in Game 7 because he was ready to fight Alex Gordon or Lorenzo Cain; he beat them because he locked down and stayed on the mound until there was nobody left to get out. The right-hander has five complete games in 30 starts this season, including one in his last outing on Thursday against the Cardinals. They need to win the next two, as well. Both M’s runs came in the bottom of the ninth off Toronto closer Roberto Osuna, who had to throw 26 pitches. The Dodgers only have themselves to blame for failing to suck any more magic out of the Giants.
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The offense’s futility increased the likelihood that the bullpen would be involved at the end of the game.
