:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/photo_images/2714543/GYI0064719167.jpg)
Forty-two innings, 16 walks, and 34 strikeouts. Two home runs allowed, and 45 hits. That's not too bad of a line, especially considering how Madison Bumgarner started the season.
0-6.
Have I mentioned lately how much I hate won-loss records? Yesterday? Dang. Wasted my ammunition. But Madison Bumgarner has an ERA+ of around 126 for his career -- that's really, really good -- and his career won-loss record is 7-12. Matt Cain is 60-64 for his career with an ERA+ of 126. Jonathan Sanchez is 37-41 with an ERA+ of 101. Tim Lincecum has escaped the won-loss chupacabra somehow. So the Giants have three below-average pitchers in their rotation. Luckily Zito is 20 games over .500 for his career.
Yarrrgh.
I made a .gif of the best part of this game, though:
Beautiful. That was such a sight for sore eyes.
T’was a time when the Giants and Cubs would pal around, doing things that cursed franchises do together. Fall down wells ... give up late leads to blow a once-in-a-century chance ... remember Bill Madlock fondly. It was fun.
But then the Giants had a good idea. They took the money they had saved from mowing lawns, and when they were at a mall to buy a new telescope, they noticed that the Baseball Gods couldn’t afford to get their mom’s dress dry cleaned, and they totally had wine spilled on it after their mom specifically told them they couldn’t wear it to a party. They paid the Baseball Gods to pretend to like them. It worked. Now the Giants are all popular and championshippy and stuff.
But they missed their chance to light a flaming bag on the doorstep of Wrigley Field. That game was fugly like few before it. It’s a little hard to mope -- 6-1 in their last seven games ! -- but that was one of the top five grossest games of the year.
Also,Jeremy Affeldt isn’t good. He used to be, but so did Aerosmith. We’re a long ways from the glory days. I can’t figure out why he’s not good anymore -- the fastball still has life, and the curve still has bite -- and it’s not like 14 innings this year is a huge sample, but no thanks. Runzler down, Kroon up, and Affeldt to the back of the ‘pen where he can think about things for a while.