Include Bumgarner’s offensive capabilities and he may be the best overall pitcher.
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“You’re dang right I did”, he said.
For Bumgarner, Sunday’s start was memorable both for his dominance on the mound and his performance in the batter’s box. But Bumgarner hit 93 miles per hour on his 112th and final pitch, even after putting in some extra work running the bases on his home run and RBI double.
The Nationals’ Ross (3-5) failed to get out of the fifth inning.
The Nationals could not play pinball against Bumgarner. MadBum struck out Wilson Ramos and after a sacrifice bunt from Ross, the Nats were back to the top of the lineup for Michael Taylor. “Bumgarner, that’s back-to-back for him”. Escobar followed the K’s with a groundout to Crawford. We’ve all gone through this at some point in our careers. A deep fly ball to center was enough to advance Blanco into scoring position for Brandon Belt. They jumped him for three first-inning runs, including a two-run homer by Harper, and six runs overall in five innings on July 4. When you have a wrist injury, it’s really hard to hit and he’s had them before.
Harper then headed straight to the clubhouse, taking his batting gloves off and throwing them as he exited down through the tunnel.
His hit-and-run RBI double in the fifth inning scored second baseman Kelby Tomlinson, who had singled, to increase the Giants’ lead to 4-0.
I think it’s more likely my head is spinning because of Sunday’s game. He has 35 strikeouts in 25 1/3 innings during that span.
Was the fact that they did score runs and still lost another game worrisome? “I got it pretty good”, Harper said. Tyler Moore replaced him in the bottom of the seventh.
For a minute, it seemed that the Giants had no answer this time around.
Bumgarner was at his best in every respect.
Smart and aggressive baserunning helped the Giants add to their lead.
Giants: OF Angel Pagan (right patella tendinitis) and 2B Joe Panik (lower back inflammation) will go to Arizona to continue their rehabs when the Giants leave on their road trip…. “We’ll pitch and hit one day, and the bullpen will have a hiccup”. Sale’s chase of 300 Ks will at least be one thing for White Sox fans to track as another disappointing season winds down. It meant little in another discouraging defeat for the Washington Nationals. He complemented his hitting prowess with a three-hit shutout, striking out a career-best-tying 14.
Here in the dog days, Bumgarner has become fully unleashed. For two straight games he’s pitched the complete game and looked completely dominate throughout.
Hutchison (12-2) allowed one run and three hits in 6 2-3 innings.
Blanco finished the game with a hit and two walks in his four plate appearances. With MadBum on track, the rest of the rotation needs to get hot down the stretch.
A popular pick before opening day to win the World Series, the Nationals fell below.
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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. Pitching in front of a large group of friends and family, the Berkeley, Calif., native appeared ready to go toe-to-toe with Bumgarner early in the game.
