Madison Bumgarner probably hadn’t heard the name D.J. Peters before Wednesday evening.
Chances are, Bumgarner won’t remember Peters’ name much beyond Wednesday anyway.
But in the fourth inning of Bumgarner’s rehab start in San Jose, the right fielder for the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes did his best to leave his name etched in the left-hander’s memory.
In an eight-hit, eight-run frame for the Quakes, Peters led the charge by launching a pair of home runs off the three-time World Series champion, and the 2014 World Series MVP. Peters’ home runs were two of the four hit off of Bumgarner on Wednesday as Rancho Cucamonga tagged the Giants’ ace for six extra base hits.
After allowing one hit, a home run off the bat of Quakes’ first baseman Ibandel Isabel, through his first three innings of work, Bumgarner imploded in his fourth and final inning. Aside from the two home runs Peters hit, Bumgarner allowed a third home run and a triple in what will likely go down as one of, if not the very worst inning of his professional career.
Bumgarner finished the evening having thrown 76 pitches against the single A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and is scheduled to make his fifth and final rehab start on Saturday for San Jose. The Giants have hinted at moving Bumgarner back into the rotation as soon as July 15 if his rehab goes as planned, and perhaps the team won’t be concerned by Bumgarner’s outing in San Jose.
Still, for a Giants team that remains 15 games removed from the second Wild Card spot in the National League, it’s hard to imagine San Francisco will rush Bumgarner back to the mound.
Bumgarner made three starts for the Giants this season before suffering a shoulder sprain in a mid-April dirt-biking incident.
Peters, meanwhile, was a fourth round selection of the Dodgers in the 2016 MLB Draft and had already hit 16 home runs for the Quakes coming into Wednesday’s game.
Another former fourth round pick of the Dodgers who’s been tearing it up this season? Cody Bellinger, a rookie who leads the National League in home runs this year and will likely have his first shot at facing Bumgarner later on this year.