The first time I ever did a game recap on this site, the Giants were just welcoming a young pitcher who would be the first piece of the dominant young rotation which would serve as the foundation for the Giants championship run from 2010-2014. Matt Cain was the young starter that night, of course, in just his third start for the Giants.
Tonight, I found myself at the other end of the spectrum, watching as the Giants may soon be bidding adieu to the final piece of that dominant rotation -- the last one added to the staff, and the last one remaining. Madison Bumgarner was the starter tonight, of course, in what will likely be his third to last start for the Giants should he leave in free agency this winter.
To celebrate the symmetry, Bumgarner went out and got Cain’d (7IP, 4H, 0BB, 2ER, ND). Which left everyone Bum’d.
It displayed all the characterizations of a classic Caining. The double shutout into the later innings. The Giants failing to score despite having repeated opportunities — four straight innings with the leadoff man reaching (including a double), two runners stranded on third base after getting there with less than two outs, the one late mistake costing the starter a potential win. It’s was like a hearing an old familiar song.
“Oh, I know how this one goes,” you say.
Speaking of familiar experiences, the start against the Marlins was classic Bumgarner. The pitching, sure — Bumgarner at times displayed his good running fastball, his sharp curveball, and his nasty slutter — but I’m thinking more about the redassery.
I had a feeling we might see the angry side of Bumgarner as soon as I saw it was C.B. Bucknor behind the plate. He’s an umpire known for angering players and Bumgarner is a player known to get angry. We were destined for some glaring, and it didn’t take long. It only took until the third pitch of the game for Bucknor to make a questionable ball-strike call, and until the third batter for Bumgarner to start chirping at him.
Bumgarner was very demonstrative — even for him — about the first pitch to opposing pitcher Robert Dugger in a bunting situation in the third inning. He really showed Bucknor up in front of the crowd and viewers, waving his arms in disgust.
Huh, I wonder why Bumgarner is so angry at Bucknor pic.twitter.com/qiTuGy666V
— Captain Melvin Seahorse (@MissedCutoffMan) September 15, 2019
Bucknor retaliated with his own gesticulations toward Bumgarner on the mound. On his way off the mound, Bumgarner gave his trademark stank eye, and Bucknor gave some right back. It was two masters of their art, showing their estimable wares.
CB Buckner is mad at Bumgarner somehow, even though Buckner called a pitch a ball that was arguably right down the middle. @MLB time to get an auto strike zone or better umps. Harsh but true. #SFGiants pic.twitter.com/DoGrBayKVV
— Hardeep Dhillon (@Hardeepd2) September 15, 2019
In the bottom of the inning, Bumgarner and Bucknor talked tensely at home plate before the Bumgarner’s at-bat, and then during it Bumgarner was just as animated in disagreement with a strike call against him as he had been on the mound.
After that at-bat, Mike Krukow said on the TV broadcast that he gave Bumgarner a 50/50 shot at getting kicked out. Really, he said Bumgarner had a 50/50 chance of not getting kicked out, which is a very Krukow way of saying the same thing. (Just one more reason to love him.)
In his second at bat in the fifth, Bumgarner was called out by Bucknor on two very questionable pitches, and I thought that might be enough to send him to the showers. Bumgarner lingered at the plate unhappily — seemingly considering a protest — before heading slowly back to the dugout, leaving no doubt that he was displeased. Does he ever?
In addition to his trademark pitching and temper, we also got a glimpse at Bumgarner’s mountain man toughness when he took a line drive off his abdomen to start the sixth inning and barely flinched.
Madison Bumgarner unwittingly confirms his robot progeny by taking a 107 MPH liner off the sternum with no reaction pic.twitter.com/13IsjnRDiM
— Sports Gifs & Videos (@Supreme_gifs) September 15, 2019
About the only thing we didn’t get from Bumgarner was something memorable at the plate.
If and when Bumgarner does leave the Giants, I’ll miss the pitching, the hitting, the toughness, and yes, even though it pains me from time to time, I’ll even miss his combustible nature.
Bumgarner was not ejected from the game by Bucknor, nor was he pulled due to ineffectiveness, but rather was forced to leave by the Giants inability to score.
He faced only a couple of scoring threats — a hit and a HBP gave the Marlins two on with none out in the fourth inning, but a slick double play started by Brandon Crawford helped him get out of it. The next inning, Bumgarner’s defense helped out again, as Kevin Pillar made a great, leaping catch at the center field wall to rob Martin Prado of at least extra bases.
HOW?! pic.twitter.com/h3ccsRDeTL
— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) September 15, 2019
The ball had an expected batting average of .850. Even Bumgarner seemed to have a hard time understanding how it wasn’t a hit.
With his repertoire on point and his defense helping out, Bumgarner was a model of efficiency.
Giants vs. Marlins
— MadduxTracker (@MadduxTracker) September 15, 2019
Potential #Maddux for Madison Bumgarner with 66 pitches after 6 innings! #MadduxInProgress
But after the Marlins waited 16 innings to score their first run of the series, they did it in a big way, as Jorge Alfaro took Bumgarner very deep (473-feet’s worth) for a two-run home run in the seventh. That not only cost Bum the lead, but got him out of the game (despite only throwing 81 pitches), as his spot came up in the bottom of the inning with men on second and third with one out.
With just eight outs left to play with, it was unquestionably the right baseball move, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t wonder if Bochy would consider leaving him in to hit. After all, this a guy Bochy started at DH, and pinch-hits with regularity, and this was one of his last starts under the manager. And I’d lying if I didn’t think, “What if Bum hit a three-run HR here to turn the game around?”
Luckily, logic prevailed, and so did Donovan Solano, who pinch hit and continues his hot-hitting by tripling into an alley known for such things, and knocking in both runners to tie the game.
Bochy then handed the tie game to the bullpen, which is no longer the comforting sight it was in the first two-thirds of the season. In the eighth inning, Fernando Abad did his job -- one batter, one strikeout -- but Shaun Anderson gave up three hits and two runs in 1/3 of an inning to give the lead right back. It’s unfortunate to see Anderson struggle after looking so good in his previous relief work, but not particularly surprising. Even if he has a bright future as a reliever, which I think he might, there will be growing pains -- and many of those will come in games when he’s pitching on consecutive days, as he was tonight.
That was enough for the Marlins bullpen, who wriggled out of a minor jam in the ninth to preserve the 4-2 win. Considering this is the Death Fog we’re dealing with here, and it almost claimed another victim — Mike Yastrzemski was hit on the left foot by a pinch and briefly appeared to be seriously hurt (before he’d had a proper chance to hit his 20th home run, and three days prior to making his first appearance at Fenway Park, where his grandfather built a legend) — maybe we should be happy to get out with just a loss.
Besides celebrating the past, the game also gave Giants another pleasant look at a possible future. Mauricio Dubon continued to impress on both offense and defense. It’s with the glove that he’s been most impressive, and he made another nice play tonight on a grounder up the middle by Miguel Rojas, though Brandon Belt failed to scoop the low throw, hanging a tough error on the rookie.
Dubon looked even better at the plate, notching three hits, and getting robbed of a fourth on his hardest hit ball of the night thanks to a leaping catch by Rojas at short. It wasn’t just the results that impressed, either. Dubon stroked two liners to right field for singles — one a sweet flip job on an outside pitch, the other on a nice inside-out swing — and turned on two other pitches, lining one down the left field line, igniting the game-tying rally.
When your team is out of it in September, all you can hope for is a promising young rookie to capture your imagination and provide hope for the future. Dubon is doing just that.