Bumgarner's Double Sparks Rally, Giants Avoid Sweep in 12-4 Win

In a couple of weeks, Madison Bumgarner, along with teammates Johnny Cueto, Buster Posey, and Brandon Belt, will be making a trip down the beautiful city of San Diego, California to represent the San Francisco Giants in the annual Mid-Summer Classic.

While the soon to be four-time All-Star will be more than happy to be there, he might be bothered by the fact that during the Home Run Derby that he'll be sitting in foul territory with his fellow All-Stars, rather than swinging for the fences with baseball's best sluggers.

The players union, however, said otherwise and did not want a pitcher to take a hitter's spot in the annual slugfest.

While the union's heart was in the right place, this was a bit of a fun killer, especially considering the events like this are for the fans as much as the players.

Bumgarner received compensation for the inability to participate when Bochy intentionally waived the designated hitter for today's lineup, the first time a manager has given up the spot since 1976.

It may not have been the Home Run Derby, but with the opportunity to hit against the Giants' cross-town rivals in The Coliseum for the first time in his career, or any San Francisco pitcher's career, this was the next best thing.

With a depleted roster and Bumgarner's ability to run into one every so often, the Bochy's decision to let Bumgarner hit was not a difficult one to make.

"“It really wasn’t a tough call,” Bochy said, “but (Bumgarner) had the option. If he needed that break, he would’ve gotten it. He wants to do his normal thing, and that’s pitch and hit." [quote via SFGate]

With 13 career home runs, the power-hitting pitcher came up to the plate in the top of the third inning to a thunderous applause, not only looking for a hit, but to instill some life into a team that lost three consecutive games coming into the series finale.

It wasn't a home run, but with one swing of the bat, the lefty gave the Giants the spark they so desperately needed.

Bumgarner smoked a double to center that was in-and-out of the glove of a sprinting Billy Burns, setting the table for a six-run third inning.

Denard Span walked, and Angel Pagan singled to load the bases for Brandon Belt, who took advantage by knocking in Span and Bumgarner with a ground-rule double.

According to Ryan M. Spaeder, the Giants are now 29-5 all-time when Bumgarner scores a run.

With runners on second and third, Buster Posey cleared the bases with a booming three-run home run, and Brandon Crawford immediately followed by hitting a solo shot on the very next pitch.

San Francisco got their ace two more runs of support in the fourth inning, giving Bumgarner a comfortable lead to work with after only receiving three runs of support in his last two starts.

Bumgarner came into the game having been roughed up in his previous appearances at The Coliseum, and it looked like the lefty was going to continue to struggle when Oakland shortstop Marcus Semien took him deep on a 1-0 fastball in the bottom of the first.

Despite the early blow, Bumgarner calmed the waters and soldiered on, eating up 6.1 innings, the most innings out of any San Francisco starter in this four-game series.

Oakland taxed the San Francisco for three more runs by way of a Jake Smolinski RBI single and Yonder Alonso two-run home run that just made it over the fence in right.

Bumgarner the game after the Alonso home run with four more runs added to his ERA, bringing it up to 2.20 on the season. Despite the jump, Bumgarner gets another win added to his record, a fair trade off after two losses in a row.

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Along with 14 hits, the Giants drew eleven walks on the day, including five in the ninth by way of Oakland reliever Fernando Rodriguez, which allowed San Francisco to tack on four insurance runs.

Denard Span and Angel Pagan drew two apiece, Ruben Tejada drew one, and Belt, Crawford, Jarret Parker, and Conor Gillaspie had one apiece.

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In response to the injury to Ramiro Peña, Grant Green made his San Francisco debut a day after Ruben Tejada made his own debut.

The second baseman tallied two hits, both of which were all upper body, in five at-bats.

Green had not played since June 19th after getting hit by an errant Mac Williamson bat.

In a strange coincidence, Williamson is the partially the reason Green was called up, as Peña sprained his left ankle after colliding with the outfielder.

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Crawford tallied two more RBIs tonight, putting him at 52 on the season, which leads all shortstops in baseball.

Despite the shortstop's great first-half, he will more than likely get snubbed from the All-Star roster due to players such as Cory Seager, Addison Russell, and Trevor Story ahead of him in voting.

Two of Crawford's teammates who will more than likely be in San Diego, Belt, and Posey, had four and three RBIs apiece, respectively, proving why they'll be playing with some of baseball's best.

If the MLB did not institute the rule that every team must have an All-Star representative, Crawford's chances of making the squad would be far greater. ____________________________________________________________________

At the midway point in the season, the Giants have 50 wins, on pace for a 100-62 season.

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