SAN FRANCISCO — In this long, seemingly constant uphill battle the Giants have faced throughout the season, the sight of a vintage Madison Bumgarner performance is reassuring, if not therapeutic, for Giants fans.
After San Francisco’s 3-0 win over the Padres Thursday night, the Giants sit at 38-38, four games back of the first-place Arizona Diamondbacks. The Giants have weathered a flood of injuries to stay afloat. Each of their three top starting pitchers has missed extensive time this season due to injury, including Bumgarner, who made his 2018 MLB debut earlier this month. Each of their starting infielders has missed time. Earlier this week, Giants closer Hunter Strickland blew a save, then punched a door, fracturing his hand, which will sideline him for an estimated six-to-eight weeks.
That’s enough drama to fill a 162-game calendar.
That’s why Bumgarner’s Thursday night performance— eight innings pitched, three hits allowed, and eight strikeouts in his first win of the season — was much-needed, not only in regards to San Francisco’s National League West standing, but also in preserving an exhausted bullpen. The Giants bullpen has logged 276.2 innings this year, the sixth-most in Major League Baseball. That’s the result of young, inexperienced starters struggling to consistently pitching deep into games.
Thursday night was the first time a Giants starter logged eight innings in an appearance this season.
“It’s critical for your bullpen to have a guy or two who does that for you— who gets you deep in the game and gives them a break,” catcher Buster Posey said. “Those guys needed a break, especially the guys we have been using in the setup and closing role.”
Bumgarner, who threw 100 pitches Thursday night, said he could have pitched all nine innings. But with a three-run lead, his stamina still strengthening, and the relative triviality of a game midway through the season, it was not worth the risk. Reliever Mark Melancon sealed the deal to earn his first save of the season.
Bumgarner said he felt as good tonight as he has all year. He was precise in his pregame bullpen session — to which he normally does not pay much attention — and it transitioned the way he hoped. Bumgarner retired the first six Padres batters. Even when he found trouble — he allowed base runners before manufacturing outs in both the third and fifth innings — he escaped with exceptional command and pitch variety.
In order to qualify as a vintage Bumgarner performance, it must feature some slugging, too. In the bottom of the fifth inning, he connected on a fastball that soared to left field for a sacrifice fly, scoring Pablo Sandoval to give the Giants a 1-0 lead.
“That was good for me,” said the typically soft-spoken Bumgarner. “Happy to do that.”
“It was the Madison we all know,” Bruce Bochy said on Bumgarner’s performance. “He really hit his spots, a great focus out there, had all his pitches going. He mixed it up well, hit his spots. He knocks in the first run. It was the type of game we have seen so many times from him.”
In addition to producing wins and alleviating stress for the bullpen, Bumgarner’s presence gives confidence to the rest of the club.
“When you look to No. 40 over there,” said second baseman Joe Panik, “let him lock horns with the (other starter).”
The return of prime Bumgarner does not erase all of San Francisco’s hardships. Johnny Cueto is still weeks away from a return, and Jeff Samardzija likely has two more rehab starts with Triple-A Sacramento before returning to the big league club. Bumgarner can only handle business every fifth day. Until the the No. 2 and 3 starters return, the Giants will continue to rely on their young starters and better-than-advertised bullpen. Bochy has consistently deployed eight relievers on the roster to compensate for the attrition among the starting pitching staff.
But with three straight wins, the Giants have hit a groove as they enter the home stretch preceding the All-Star Break. Optimism is growing amid a season punctuated with setbacks. Bumgarner is a major reason.
“It feels like everything keeps improving, getting back in the swing of things,” Bumgarner said. “It was good. It’s coming along.”