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SAN FRANCISCO — When Madison Bumgarner walked off the mound at Oracle Park after the top of the seventh inning on July 23, many Giants fans wondered if it was the last time they’d see him pitch on the shores of McCovey Cove.
With the trade deadline in the rearview mirror, Bumgarner returned home to face the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday.
Another dominant outing from the team’s ace reminded fans why they hope he never leaves.
Bumgarner tossed seven innings of one-hit ball and played a leading role in ending the Giants’ four-game losing streak in the team’s 5-0 win over the Phillies.
“He did it all tonight,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “It’s hard to have a better game than he did and we needed it.”
Right fielder Mike Yastrzemski served as the catalyst for the Giants’ offense on Thursday, lining a two-run double off the left field wall in the third before launching a 403-foot home run above the brick wall in right center field in the seventh.
Expected to be one of the top starting pitchers available on the trade market this summer, Bumgarner instead remained with the only franchise he’s ever known. The Giants (57-59) entertained conversations involving Bumgarner toward the end of July, but the team’s ascension in the National League Wild Card standings helped convince the front office to keep him in orange and black.
“This is an extremely special place to me,” Bumgarner said. “I appreciate everything that these fans have done for me and for this team and this is an awesome place to play.”
Despite drawing interest from contending clubs in the hours leading up to the July 31 deadline, Bumgarner said he never envisioned pitching elsewhere. It’s not hard to see why he enjoys himself in San Francisco, considering no pitcher has ever posted better career numbers inside the ballpark at China Basin.
Bumgarner had the look of a player ready to write another chapter in the Giants history books on Thursday, but Phillies pinch-hitter Cesar Hernández had other plans.
After the lefty recorded 16 outs without allowing a hit, Hernández lined a single to center in the top of the sixth that drew a cheer from the home fans who recognized the significance of Hernández’s achievement. Philadelphia’s first hit prevented Bumgarner from joining the likes of Jonathan Sanchez, Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum and Chris Heston, but the Giants’ starter erased the runner by inducing a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.
“You know, I never believe it when guys say they don’t know,” said Bumgarner, when asked about his no-hit bid. “I also don’t care about it. I just want to win the game.”
Bumgarner returned to the mound and finished the night with a 1-2-3 seventh inning, exiting the game after allowing just two base runners. The Giants ace actually reached base three times on his own, recording a single in his first at-bat before drawing a pair of walks in his next two plate appearances.
Bumgarner had thrown just 85 pitches when Bochy removed him, but the duo agreed it was the right decision after Bumgarner spent several days in between starts making extra throws. The Giants ace was disappointed with his command in his last outing against the Rockies and said he needed the additional work between starts to get back on track.
“The start in Denver, just to have a bad game result-wise, it wouldn’t have been that big of a deal,” Bumgarner said. “I just didn’t feel like I could put the ball where I wanted to very good that day so I ended up putting a little extra work in each day.”
A season after Dereck Rodríguez, the son of catcher Ivan Rodríguez, emerged as a force in the Giants’ rotation, another relative of a Hall of Famer has been one of the team’s biggest bright spots. Though Carl Yastrzemski has yet to attend one of Mike’s big league games, the grandfather of the Giants outfielder has plenty of reason to be proud.
Mike’s seventh inning solo shot off reliever Nick Pivetta marked his 11th home run of the season, matching the total Carl racked up during his rookie year in 1961 with the Red Sox. Carl was 21 as a rookie while Mike will turn 29 at the end of the month, but the grandson’s winding journey to the big leagues has paid off in an impressive year with the Giants.
“It’s a little different feat, I would more compare my 28-year numbers to his 28-year numbers,” Yastrzemski said. “But I think those would be a little better.”
If Yastrzemski is able to avoid the struggles that have sidetracked Rodríguez in his second season, Giants fans hope he’ll do so with Bumgarner as his teammate.
The left-hander will become a free agent at the end of the year, but the new front office led by Farhan Zaidi understands what re-signing Bumgarner would mean to the franchise and its fan base.
