Clearly, Bumgarner wanted to fight Puig, or at least get him going, with two innings left in one of the biggest games of the Giants’ teeter-totter season.
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In the 10th matchup between Bumgarner and Clayton Kershaw, both pitchers did what they do. Kershaw is making his third start since returning from the disabled list.
Giants left-hander Madison Bumgarner (14-9, 2.66 ERA) faces three-time Cy Young Award victor Clayton Kershaw (11-3, 1.81) in what will be the 11th matchup between the two southpaws, including the third this season.
Bumgarner fielded a slow tapper by Puig along the first base line and threw him out to end the inning.
The Giants are hitting.225 with runners in scoring position in the second half, the fourth-lowest average in the majors.
Ian Desmond drove in Elvis Andrus in the ninth as the Texas Rangers beat the Los Angeles Angels. A Bumgarner throw to first to get Puig out on a close play preceded the altercation, which seemed to escalate when Bumgarner could be seen saying “Don’t look at me”. He allowed just one hit and struck out 10 before the benches cleared.
Bumgarner either just blanked out and went into fight mode or he knew he was coming out of the game or he just decided it was more important to get into something with Puig than go back to the dugout and get ready to finish the game. “I think he was trying to stare me down, it looked like”.
Madison Bumgarner and Yasiel Puig might not have a lot of friends outside of their clubhouses, so it’s somewhat fitting they were in the middle of baseball’s latest near brawl Monday night.
Eduardo Nunez reached with two outs in the third on an infield single off Kershaw’s glove and into no man’s land behind the mound toward second base.
Freddie Freeman continued his road mastery of the New York Mets Monday night, when the Atlanta Braves first baseman collected four hits – including a homer – and three RBIs to lead the Braves to a 7-3 win at Citi Field. He’s been a member of the National All-Star team each of the last four seasons, but is still yet to earn a top-three finish in Cy Young voting, which may be on it’s way to changing in the next month or so.
Nunez stole second and was safe at third on another headfirst slide after catcher Yasmani Grandal’s throw sailed to the right of second. Cueto (16-5, 2.86 ERA) pitched a five-hitter and retired his final 17 batters last Thursday in a clutch performance against St. Louis.
The Giants led the division by 6 1/2 games at the All-Star break but lost the lead to the Dodgers on August 21.
You also gotta be smart when you’re pitching classically, leading your rival by one run in a game that your team needs like plasma, and you basically risk ejection for nothing. The Dodgers are 4-1 in their last 5 during game 2 of a series and 38-15 in their last 53 home games. Dodgers LHP Alex Wood (elbow) will be activated Tuesday and work out of the bullpen.2.
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There have been few pitchers as consistent as Bumgarner since he entered the rotation full-time in 2011 for the Giants.
