Bumgarner Does it All, Leads Giants to 1-0 Win, Series Victory
- Justice delos Santos
- May 23, 2016
- 3 min read
It's no secret that the San Francisco starting rotation over the past two weeks has, undisputedly, been the best in baseball, and the man leading that charge is none other than ace Madison Bumgarner.
Plain and simple, Bumgarner has been one of the best in the business, right up in the ranks with the likes of Jake Arrieta, Clayton Kershaw, and Chris Sale.
Matched up against the Chicago Cubs, the powerhouse of the National League, Big Country Bumgarner followed teammate Matt Cain's lead by producing both at the plate and on the mound, leading the Giants to a 1-0 victory and a series victory.
During his seven and two-thirds innings of work, the big left-hander made arguably the best team in baseball look like little Cubbies, striking out six while limiting the Cubs to only three hits, including a stretch when he retired 16 batters in a row.
Bumgarner's cutter was his best friend on the mound. The Cubs put the pitch in play twelve times, and eleven of those balls put in play were outs.
The left-hander also got ten swings-and-misses via the cutter.
He was adept at staying low in the zone to induce swings-and-misses, as 12 of the 17 whiffs he caused came in the bottom-left of the strike zone.
His velocity was consistent from the first inning to the eighth, hitting 93 MPH with his 6th pitch, 94 MPH with his 78th pitch, and 93 MPH on his 113th pitch.
The beef of the Chicago lineup couldn't get anything going against Bumgarner, as Dexter Fowler, Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Jorge Soler, and Addison Russell had no hits in thirteen at-bats.
In the month of May, Bumgarner has been otherworldly, as, over 36.2 innings, Mad Bum has an ERA of 0.98 while striking out 39 batters.
Since his lackluster start on April 15th against the Dodgers, Bumgarner's ERA has dropped more than two runs, going from 4.50 at the end of the Dodger game to 2.17 at the conclusion of the Cubs game.
In his last seven starts, Bumgarner has dominated opposing batters, striking out 56 batters and allowing a total of eight runs over 50.1 innings, good for an ERA of 1.43.
The San Francisco offense couldn't get anything going against Chicago's Kyle Hendricks, but Bumgarner injected the little life needed to get the win, lining a double just past the outstretched glove of Jorge Soler to drive in Gregor Blanco for the one and only run of the game.
Bumgarner's RBI marked his second of the season, the other coming from his solo home run against Clayton Kershaw in early April.
The Silver Slugger's batting average is currently at .154, 6th among qualified starting pitchers.
His one home run puts him in a five-way tie with Arrieta, Bartolo Colon, Kenta Maeda, and Adam Wainwright for second.
Following his departure in the eighth inning with two outs, Cory Gearrin recorded his sixth hold of the season by getting Bryant to line out, and Santiago Casilla slammed the door on the Cubs by striking out two for his 12th save of the season.
Starting today, the Giants once against square off against the San Diego Padres in another three-game series, this time at AT&T Park.
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