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SAN FRANCISCO — As Madison Bumgarner walked off the mound on Saturday night at Oracle Park, the crowd behind the Giants dugout began to rise and cheer.
A standing ovation is nothing new for Bumgarner. Unfortunately for the sturdy left-hander, the Giants and their fans, neither are injuries.
The cheers Bumgarner received when he exited Saturday’s game came all too early for the veteran starter as a line drive that drilled his left elbow cut his evening short before the top of the third inning of an 8-4 Giants victory.
“It looked bad but it felt fine the rest of the time,” Bumgarner said. “Curt (Young) and the training staff was just a little uncomfortable with all of the swelling there. So that’s their job and I’m not going to dispute that.”
X-rays were negative and Bumgarner was diagnosed with a left elbow contusion, but concerns over his health overshadowed the results of a game the Giants won thanks in large part to Austin Slater’s pinch-hit grand slam in the bottom of the fourth inning.
In the top of the first, Cardinals right fielder Jose Martinez redirected a Bumgarner offering and sent a 98-mile per hour line drive screaming back toward the mound. The ball hit Bumgarner above his left elbow and bounced to the left side of the infield.
Giants manager Bruce Bochy and trainer Dave Groeschner rushed out of the dugout to check on their pitcher, who successfully lobbied to stay in the game. Bumgarner finished off the first inning and returned to the mound in the second, but was removed from Saturday’s start after throwing one warmup pitch before the top of the third.
“It looks nasty but as far as what it feels like it never tightened up,” Bumgarner said. “It never got sore.”
Following Bumgarner’s only warmup toss before the third inning, catcher Buster Posey appeared to signal toward the dugout. Groeschner immediately walked out to the mound where a brief discussion between the pitcher and the trainer took place.
“You know Madison and how tough he is,” Bochy said. “He didn’t wave us off, so I knew it got him pretty good there. He gave us two innings there, but you get hit like that, the swelling starts.”
Bumgarner allowed four hits and one run in two innings and struck out in his only plate appearance. When the Giants pitcher came to the batter’s box in the bottom of the second, he wore a compression sleeve over his left arm.
Bumgarner missed two months during the first half of the 2017 season after sustaining a separated shoulder in a dirt-biking accident in Colorado. The Giants pitcher also missed the first two months of games in 2018 after a line drive hit by Royals infielder Whit Merrifield fractured Bumgarner’s pitching hand in his final spring training start.
Bochy feels the Giants caught a break as they have Bumgarner penciled in to pitch again on Saturday, July 13 in Milwaukee against the Brewers following the All-Star break. However, the club can be flexible if Bumgarner’s elbow contusion does not heal in time for him to start.
Bochy, Groeschner and pitching coach Curt Young met with Bumgarner in the dugout after second inning and determined that he would not return to game action in the third. In order for Sam Dyson to have an unlimited amount of time to warm up, Bumgarner needed to go back to the mound, throw a warmup pitch and exit the field with a trainer.
“We had made up our minds that we would go get him at that point,” Bochy said. “We got a break, X-Rays are negative and he should be fine to go after the break.”
When Bumgarner did leave Saturday’s game, Dyson and fellow righty Reyes Moronta combined for four shutout innings before Mark Melancon, Tony Watson and Will Smith came on to finish the job for the Giants.
Slater’s grand slam onto the right field arcade marked his second home run since earning a promotion from Triple-A Sacramento earlier this week. In 74 games with the Giants last year, Slater hit just one home run.
“I pulled a Pablo today,” Slater said, referencing the team’s top pinch hitter. “One swing, put the turf (shoes) on, day over.”
The Giants owned a comfortable 5-1 lead after six innings, but added three more runs in the seventh on a two-out triple from Alex Dickerson and a two-run home run from Pablo Sandoval. Sandoval’s 11th home run of the year was his first as a right-handed hitter since June 18, 2018 against the Marlins.
The insurance runs proved to be critical for the Giants as Watson surrendered a three-run home run to Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt in the top of the eighth.
Despite lasting just two innings, Bumgarner still managed to make history during his start against the Cardinals. By striking out Cardinals shortstop Paul DeJong in the first inning, Bumgarner passed Tim Lincecum to move into second place on the Giants’ San Francisco-era strikeout leaderboard.
Bumgarner’s 1,705th career strikeout came two starts after he passed Matt Cain to move into third place on the leaderboard.
It’s unlikely Bumgarner, 29, will have a chance to pass Juan Marichal at 2,281 strikeouts, but it’s possible Bumgarner’s trade value could be impacted by the injury he sustained on Saturday.
Bumgarner’s name has been floated in trade rumors since the offseason and it is widely believed that his days with the Giants could come to an end ahead of the July 31 trade deadline. The veteran left-hander is considered one of the top starting pitchers expected to be available in trade offers this summer, but even if the Giants hold on to their ace, Bumgarner will become a free agent at the end of the season.
Even if Bumgarner is healthy enough to start in Milwaukee, it’s possible that Saturday’s appearance against the Cardinals will be his last as a member of the Giants at Oracle Park. Bumgarner’s turn in the rotation is not expected to come up until the Giants return home from a seven-game, six-day road trip following the All-Star break and the lefty could be involved in a trade prior to that outing.
Since the Giants’ home stadium opened in 2000, only a small group of pitchers can rival the numbers that Bumgarner posted inside the park at China Basin. His 2.76 ERA at home is better than the marks posted by Matt Cain (3.34) and Tim Lincecum (3.41) and his five shutouts are the most by any Giants starter at Oracle Park.
Look at the welt José Martínez put on Madison Bumgarner's pitching arm with a liner pic.twitter.com/RYdHanJf5S
— Mike Petriello (@mike_petriello) July 7, 2019
