Giants’ Bumgarner lands on DL after dirt bike accident

DENVER » Madison Bumgarner was zooming around on a dirt bike during his team’s day off when he hit a slippery spot and crashed.

The freak accident landed him on the disabled list for the first time in his big league career Friday and left the San Francisco Giants coping with the loss of their ace as they struggle through

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a rough start.

The left-hander bruised ribs and a sprained a joint in his pitching shoulder from the wipeout that occurred Thursday. The timetable for his return was not announced — a blow for a team that’s last in the NL West.

“I think the main thing is you have to be grateful he’s not hurt worse than he is,” Giants catcher Buster Posey said.

Manager Bruce Bochy said that Bumgarner drove himself to the hotel, called team head athletic trainer Dave Groeschner and went to the hospital, where doctors ran tests that included X-rays, an MRI and a CT scan.

The plan is for him to remain with the team in Denver.

“Here’s a young guy, like a lot of us, you think you’re invincible,” Bochy said before the Giants opened a threegame series with the Rockies. “Our focus, it’s on, ‘Let’s get him healthy.’ It’s happened. Let’s get him well and get him back on the mound. Hopefully, it’s a lesson learned ... You’ve got to be careful in some of these activities we do.”

This was Bochy’s first day back, too. He missed a twogame series at Kansas City following a heart procedure.

“I feel great. I’m ready to roll. It’s good to be back,” said Bochy, who went in after dealing with an occasional atrial flutter following his workouts. “Good to be with the club and get back into rhythm, I guess you could say. Glad to be back here.”

Before arriving at the ballpark Friday, Bochy stopped by the room of his injured ace for a visit.

“He’s very remorseful, in talking to him,” Bochy said. “Unfortunately, the accident happened.”

The 27-year-old Bumgarner, the 2014 World Series MVP, is 0-3 with a 3.00 ERA in four 2017 starts.

Bumgarner has received just five total runs of support in his first four starts, including one run or none in three of them — and he homered twice to drive in two of those.

“We ought to just look forward and go out and play hard baseball and hopefully he’ll be back before too long,” Posey said.