Bumgarner loses in first home start since April
SAN FRANCISCO — It used to be a Madison Bumgarner start meant the San Francisco Giants almost assuredly would find the win column.
Now, still without a 2017 victory, MadBum just wants to get back in a groove and stop giving up costly home runs.
Jhoulys Chacin outpitched Bumgarner, Cory Spangenberg hit a goahead two-run homer in the seventh inning that chased the Giants ace lefty from his first home start in more than three months and the San Diego Padres beat San Francisco 5-2 on Thursday night.
Bumgarner (0-4) struck out five and walked one over 6 1/3 innings, taking his home mound for the first time since spraining his pitching shoulder in an April 20 dirt bike acci-
dent. The 2014 World Series MVP is yet to win after six 2017 starts.
“I gotta stop giving up home runs, that’s not going to work,” Bumgarner said. “I felt much better about tonight than the box score says. That’s what’s most frustrating.”
Hunter Renfroe came off the disabled list and hit an early two-run homer to help back Chacin’s third straight winning decision. Wil Myers added a run-scoring double in the eighth as San Diego bounced back from an embarrassing 18-4 rout by the Rockies on Wednesday at Coors Field.
Chacin (9-7) allowed two runs on four hits, struck out four and walked one in six innings.
Bumgarner received a warm welcome in his return, then went 1-2-3 in the first on 11 pitches, a pair of flyball outs to left and a strikeout. Then he surrendered a leadoff double to Jabari Blash to start the second, followed by Renfroe’s homer just inside the leftfield foul pole.
The left-hander pitched at AT&T Park for the first time since April 13. He was injured on a day off in Colorado, suffering a sprained AC joint in the shoulder and bruised ribs. He made his return to the big league mound nearly three months later in a start last Saturday at San Diego.
“He’s a competitor, nothing he does really shocks me or anybody in baseball,” Padres manager Andy Green said of Bumgarner’s comeback. “He’s good and even if it’s not in midseason form for him he’s still not an easy draw.”
Bumgarner also allowed two home runs Saturday, so this marked the first time in his career he has surrendered multiple longballs in consecutive outings in the same season.
San Francisco fell to 0-6 in his starts, having given the ace just 10 runs of support.
“They’re solid outings, we’ve just got to find a way to score a few more runs,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “We had a couple chances there and it got away from us. I think it’s encouraging he’s healthy and he’s throwing the ball I think very well.”