Down 2-0 after Saturday’s 5-2 loss to Chicago, the Giants will hope Madison Bumgarner can continue his playoff dominance in Game 3, when he takes the hill against Chicago ace Jake Arrieta in another matchup between two marquee pitchers.
At only 27, Bumgarner is already one of the best pitchers in postseason history and has been un-hittable as of late, tossing 23 consecutive scoreless playoff innings, including another shutout in the NL Wild Card game last Wednesday. Bumgarner boasts a 1.94 playoff ERA in 97.1 career innings, and hasn’t allowed more than three runs in eight consecutive playoff starts.
Arrieta doesn’t have nearly the postseason pedigree that Bumgarner does, with a 3.66 ERA in three career playoff starts, but is coming off another stellar regular season, finishing with a 3.10 ERA and allowing a league low 6.3 hits per nine innings. Interestingly, Arrieta seems to play his best out west, posting a 0.20 ERA in his last six starts in California, with 44 strikeouts in 45 innings according to Christopher Kamka of CSN Chicago.
Arrieta is coming off one of his worst starts of the season, however, giving up seven runs in five innings of work in an 8-4 loss to Pittsburgh on September 28, and has struggled with his command at times this season, walking 3.5 batters per nine innings, doubling his total from Cy-Young campaign last season.
Bumgarner and Arrieta faced off once in 2016, with both pitchers going six innings in a 3-2 Giants victory at Wrigley Field on September 3. Bumgarner struck out 10 and was credited with the win, though both pitchers allowed two earned runs. Bumgarner was even better when he faced the Cubs at AT&T earlier in the season, tossing a shutout through 7 and 2/3 innings in another one-run victory. It was the same story when Arrieta took the hill at AT&T on May 20, striking out eight and giving up four hits in seven innings of work, easily out-dueling San Francisco’s Jake Peavy in an 8-1 victory.
With Bamgarner on the mound in the postseason, the Giants always have the advantage, and though the potent Cubs lineup typically does most of its damage against left-handed pitching, they haven’t been able to touch Bumgarner, hitting .211/.271/.298 in 161 career at-bats. Add the fact that Arrieta has not been nearly as good away from home in 2016, with a 3.59 ERA as opposed to a 2.65 ERA at the Friendly Confines, and the Giants should feel good about their chances.
As we saw in Games 1 and 2, however, the Giants will have to put at least a few runs on the board to have a chance, even if Bumgarner is his usual seemingly-immortal self.