Madison Bumgarner near perfect in Giants’ win
An organization with five no-hitters since 2009 just had to include Bumgarner, the postseason legend, the man who once fixed the team bus on the side of the road, the 6-foot-5, 235-pounder who strikes fear into hitters and sometimes his own manager who jokes about being afraid to remove him from games.
The Giants beat the Padres 8-0, and Bumgarner received several standing ovations, the most heart-warming coming immediately after he surrendered Upton’s hit, a sign of respect and affection from 41,564 fans who dig Bumgarner and his value during the three championship runs.
Bumgarner finished with a one-hitter - 28 up and 27 down - and if he wasn’t considered among the top Cy Young Award candidates along with Zack Greinke, Clayton Kershaw and Jake Arrieta, well, the season’s far from over.
In the later innings, the huge deficit between the first-place Dodgers and Giants wasn’t a consideration.
Adrianza threw out Justin Upton from the outfield grass for the first out in the eighth, and Jedd Gyorko popped to right fielder Marlon Byrd, who seemed a bit fooled before making a two-handed catch.
What should have been the third out in a scoreless game initiated a four-run rally.
The most impressive part of the inning was Tomlinson, considered the fastest man in the organization, legging out a triple.
Byrd capped the rally with a run-scoring single, his third hit and third RBI.