San Francisco Giants: Bumgarner Settles In, the Offense Does Not
Madison Bumgarner gave the San Francisco Giants a great effort after a rocky start, but the offense just wasn’t there to back him up.
Madison Bumgarner was back on the mound for his second start of the year on Saturday, and he wasn’t as sharp from the onset as he was against the Arizona Diamondbacks in his first assignment. His no-hit bid lasted 16 batters on Sunday, but was over before it started following a leadoff hustle double by Manuel Margot on Saturday. Bumgarner allowed another double three batters later, this one off the bat of Hunter Renfroe to score a run, but escaped with only the single run allowed.
Another run scored in the second inning courtesy of another Margot double, and it looked like Bumgarner was reeling. 10 batters into the game, the Giants’ ace had allowed four hits, a walk, and a hit batter, but only those two runs scored. He was in trouble again in the third inning, giving up another single and a walk, but kept the deficit at two.
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From the start of the fourth inning, Bumgarner retired 15 of the final 17 batters he faced. The lone exceptions were a two-out error in the fourth inning and an infield single in the fifth. The last 10 batters he put away in order, and Bumgarner kept his team in the game the way he always seems to do.
While Bumgarner took a bit of time to settle in, the Giants’ offense never got it together. Solid contact was few and far between, and in the first four innings, the only hit was a double off Brandon Belt‘s bat that was misplayed in left field by Jabari Blash with one out in the first. The next hit didn’t come until the fifth when Joe Panik snuck a single just under first baseman Wil Myers‘ glove, but the team still couldn’t crack the scoreboard.
The second runner to reach scoring position was Eduardo Nunez, who hit a double to right field, but he was stranded as well. They went quietly in the eighth, but finally made some noise in the ninth inning. With two outs, Buster Posey cracked a single to left center before taking second base due to defensive indifference. Brandon Crawford ensured there would be no shutout with his first hit of the day, but it wasn’t enough. Nunez flew out to left field to end the ballgame, clinching a series loss and a 1-6 start to the season.
Jhoulys Chacin, the Padres’ starter on Saturday, allowed nine runs in 3.1 innings in his first start, but shut out the Giants over 6.2 innings. Brad Hand and Ryan Buchter combined to complete the win, despite Buchter giving up the Giants’ lone run in the ninth.
Next: Giants 3 Up, 3 Down: Opening Series
This is one of those stretches for the Giants where they just can’t have everything working all at the same time. When the offense was averaging over five runs per game in the first five games, the pitching and defense wasn’t there to back it up. On Saturday, when they received their best pitching performance of the young season so far, the offense was held in check until a small rally in the ninth inning that fell short.