SAN FRANCISCO — Madison Bumgarner will be out to put an end to his worst start in six years Thursday night when he takes the mound for the opener of the San Francisco Giants’ four-game series against the Colorado Rockies.
Bumgarner’s counterpart, Rockies right-hander Jon Gray, would love to turn things around as well.
Bumgarner (0-1) was more successful with his hitting than his pitching in his first two starts of the season. His two home runs on Opening Day at Arizona are two more than the number of wins he has accrued in two starts.
The two-game winless streak to open the season is Bumgarner’s first since 2011, when he went 0-6 in his first eight starts.
The left-hander hasn’t pitched poorly — just poorly enough to lose by one run in each.
He takes a 3.00 ERA to the mound Thursday.
The Giants were just 1-5 after Bumgarner’s 2-1 loss to San Diego on Saturday. The former World Series MVP expressed optimism after the game; and, sure enough, his mates rebounded with three wins in four games, including a 2-1 series win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
“It looks bad when it happens that way,” Bumgarner said in San Diego. “But pick a year and you won’t find one when we didn’t go 1-5 (at some point). I’d rather start out struggling and finish good than the other way around.
“We’re the San Francisco Giants. That’s all the optimism we need. I know what kind of organization I work for and what their goals are.”
The Rockies arrive in San Francisco having taken the opposite path as the Giants. They started 5-1 before losing three of four.
Gray (0-0) pitched twice during the 5-1 start. He hasn’t lost despite an ERA (5.79) nearly twice that of Bumgarner.
And while his rival Thursday night is coming off a complete-game effort, Gray has yet to get out of the sixth inning. Yet the Rockies have won both his games, 7-5 at Milwaukee and 4-2 against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The 25-year-old has faced the Giants just twice in his career, both times at AT&T Park. He has gone winless in those games (0-1) despite pitching well (2.92 ERA).
The Rockies are coming off a 6-0 defeat at the hands of San Diego in their season finale Wednesday. It marked Colorado’s first shutout loss at home in the past 121 games.
“We will get it going,” Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. “This group is too talented to stay mired in a slump.”
That said, the Rockies haven’t had much success against Bumgarner in their head-to-heads. He has gone 12-6 with a 2.99 ERA against Colorado in 25 career starts.
While a Bumgarner start against the Rockies means must-see duels with powerful Nolan Arenado, the Colorado player with the most success in his career against the Giants ace is Carlos Gonzalez.
In a lefty-on-lefty matchup, Gonzalez has belted five career home runs against Bumgarner. No other player has more than three.