His fourth career one-hitter lifted the Giants to a major league-best 57 win.
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“They’ve been everything we could’ve asked for”, said shortstop Brandon Crawford, who hit a sacrifice fly in the first inning and a two-run double in the seventh to give him a team-high 61 RBIs. That put him in counts to use a curveball that kicked like a mule.
He struck out 10 or more for the 29th time in his Giants career, the second most in franchise history behind Tim Lincecum’s 36. On Sunday night, he cemented the Giants as World Series contenders with a one-hitter against the Diamondbacks. He’s two innings away from completing a no-hitter. Whether you chalk it up to a strong pitching rotation (Madison Bumgarner and Johnny Cueto are one of the best one-two punches in baseball) or Even Year B.S., the Giants have withstood numerous dings and dents to their roster, many short-term injuries that have added up to a whole lot of lineup shuffling by manager Bruce Bochy.
Bumgarner’s bid for a flawless game ended with two outs in the top of the fifth when Lamb hit a fly ball toward the right field line. He gave up seven hits, walked two and struck out six while losing for the first time since June 14.
Bumgarner had just fanned Yasmany Tomas to tie his career high of 14 – reached twice previous year – when Lamb lined a 2-2 pitch into right.
“When we go out there, we have – not that we don’t have it with other guys on the staff, but it’s just like, nearly a given that we’re gonna win that ballgame”. The Giants are now in 1st place in the National League West, and the league overall, with 57 wins so far this season. But Drury bounced into a double play that gave Bumgarner a shot at starting the ninth.
“The thing I liked about what happened, after the base hit, he kept his focus”, Bochy said. Denard Span singled, Angel Pagan doubled, and they scored on a Buster Posey single and Crawford sacrifice fly.
Update #2 (10:32 PM EDT): The Giants tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the seventh when Brandon Belt hit a two-run double.
Bumgarner entered the night with 15 quality starts, a 2.09 ERA (or a 192 ERA+ for the league- and park-adjusted freaks out there) and a 4.26 strikeout-to-walk ratio over his first 18 starts.
Given those numbers, Bochy was tempted to say that Bumgarner, despite his accolades, may still be improving. “And that he can elevate his game and get even better is a credit to him, because he works as hard as anybody I’ve ever seen at his craft”.
Bochy was asked if he thinks Bumgarner will eventually pitch a no-hitter.
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“No question”, he said, before catching himself. But why make a cameo in an exhibition when you can stage a one-man show?
