Chris Mezzavilla
He was not classic Madison Bumgarner. He also was not the clearly concerning pitcher he was through the beginning of this season.
The mannerisms were still there — the scruffy game face, the cross-fire delivery, a stubbornness on the mound that is almost tangible. If Giants fans were nostalgic for better times — for three World Series, for MVPs, for surprise and surreal relief appearances, for barking at umpires and snot-rocketting the grass and throwing darts to Buster Posey — it would be perfectly understandable.
But the Giants, fighting for a playoff spot now two-thirds of the way through the season, could not share the same sentimentality, sitting Brandon Crawford against his buddy to avoid the left-on-left matchup. Bumgarner could not afford to crack a smile Brandon Belt’s way and allow himself to be fazed, not after the brutal start he has had with Arizona and trying to navigate his way through a Giants lineup that has hit southpaws hard.
He gritted through four innings, in which he threw 72 pitches, a mark he wasn’t going to go far beyond in his first start since Aug. 9, after which he went on the injured list with a mid-back sprain. He did not have all of his velocity back, but he was no longer eye-openingly off.
Bumgarner was back on the Oracle Park mound, was back directing his fielders and was back in a city he once owned. But ultimately, he wasn’t able to beat a team that did not blow him away in free agency, the Giants’ bullpen outdoing their former ace in a 4-3 victory, one that was certainly bittersweet for Giants fans.
No one was there to welcome him back, to conflictingly cheer or boo for Giants home runs, to thank a star whose legend was uniquely crafted at this park, his demeanor almost as memorable as his left arm. The Giants put together a highlight video to thank him, though they would not offer him the nine-figure deal this offseason that he would have preferred.
The legend of Madison Bumgarner will live forever in San Francisco. Thanks, MadBum. pic.twitter.com/4PI7GjC6YM
— SFGiants (@SFGiants) September 6, 2020
And then the game started, and Evan Longoria and Darin Ruf were less kind than the Giants’ multimedia folks.
As Longoria stepped to the plate in the second inning, Bumgarner turned around and directed second baseman Ketel Marte to move farther up the middle, nearly placing him behind second base. If anyone knows where Longoria tends to hit the ball, it’s a cerebral pitcher who’s rooted for him for two years. Yet, Marte could not help as Longoria teed off, sending a cutter deep into the left-field seats.
Ruf and Bumgarner do not have the same history, but it sure looked like a vengeful swing that followed. Ruf sent a bomb into straight-away center, 453 feet away and the third deepest hit against Bumgarner since 2015. No homers were overly admired or bickered at, Bumgarner walking around the mound instead.
He settled afterward, and a four-seamer that had averaged 87.8 mph before his injury averaged 88.7 mph through four innings, in which he allowed just the two runs on three hits and two walks. The Giants hit plenty of balls hard, but as became typical in this park, they found gloves for the most part.
Bumgarner’s finesse would not be enough against a Giants assembly line that began with Trevor Cahill, making his first start since a hip flare-up last Saturday and Gabe Kapler giving him a short leash. Cahill was wild in his 2 2/3 innings, in which he was charged with just one run because Caleb Baragar entered and needed two pitches and one out to get him out of a second-and-third jam.
After Baragar, Sam Coonrod and Jarlin Garcia were excellent, before Trevor Gott allowed a solo homer to Daulton Varsho, but that was all. Tyler Rogers surrendered an eighth-inning run but was bailed out by Sam Selman, who got a big strikeout in the frame before Tony Watson closed the ninth for his first save since May 21, 2017, with Pittsburgh.
The Giants (19-21) got more insurance in the sixth again by going back-to-back — this time with triples. Joey Bart golfed a shot to left to drive in Belt before Mauricio Dubon followed with his own to right. It was a cushion they would appreciate and need.
Bumgarner was a Giant who was surely appreciated, but the front office deemed it did not need. He will try to show them they were wrong, though this year has not seen a good start to his campaign.