Bumgarner suffers rare loss as Giants fall short of sweep
Offense stalls in Bochy’s final game in Phoenix
PHOENIX — Asked for the umpteenth time about his waning days as Giants manager, Bruce Bochy said he realizes he’s on the “back nine” before correcting himself.
“It’s more like the 19th hole,” he said.
Opposing teams have presented Bochy enough wine and spirits on his final circuit to open his own 19th hole. On Sunday, before Bochy managed his 198th and final game at Chase Field, the Diamondbacks gave him four nights at a Montana fishing lodge.
His fourday trip to Phoenix was worthwhile even if he would have preferred a better finish.
After the Giants scored 28 runs to win the first three games, the offense foundered behind Madison Bumgarner in a 61 Diamondbacks victory.
A twoout, threerun rally in the first inning was enough to doom Bumgarner’s streak of 10 starts since he last lost, June 20 at Dodger Stadium.
The Giants are off Monday before opening a threegame series at another place Bochy will visit for the final time, Wrigley Field, unless they somehow convert their ever
longer shot at the playoffs and meet the Cubs in October.
“We’re leaving here feeling good because we did take three of four against a team we were chasing,” Bumgarner said. “We keep doing that, we’ll be OK.”
There was a moment Sunday that was essential Bochy in his unending faith in veteran players he calls “our guys.” It drives some fans nuts but means a lot in the clubhouse.
But it’s how Bochy has operated since he became a bigleague manager in 1995. He is not about to change now.
The Giants trailed 41 in the sixth. They had scored their run that inning on Mike Yastrzemski’s leadoff triple and Scooter Gennett’s single against Merrill Kelly. When Kelly walked Austin Slater to load the bases with two outs, Arizona manager Torey Lovullo called for lefty Andrew Chafin to face Brandon Crawford.
Crawford has not hit in a while. At that moment he was 15for101 with two extrabase hits in a month since he had raised his average to .240.
Bochy could have gone to righthanded Evan Longoria, who was given a start off so he could stay off his still sore left foot. But Bochy had seen better atbats from Crawford in the series, and the shortstop had a good history against Chafin, 5for19 with a double. Bochy stuck with Crawford.
“He’s gotten some big hits for us,” Bochy said. “I’m not going to quit on him now.”
Crawford hit a chopper that eluded first baseman Jake Lamb and bounced into short right field. But second baseman Wilmer Flores was shifted there. He ranged to his left to glove the ball and fire a long throw to Chafin covering the bag for the third out, which ended the last Giants threat.
The game turned on one firstinning play after Eduardo Escobar hit a twoout double and Bumgarner walked Christian Walker.
Adam Jones hit a liner that Kevin Pillar had to charge from deep center. Pillar could have gone conservative early in a 00 game and let it drop for an onerun single. But he lunged at the ball and missed it. It rolled far into the vast green behind him and two runs scored. Jones came home on a soft Josh Rojas single for a 30 Arizona lead.
Bumgarner had zero issues with Pillar’s decision.
“I wanted him to do that,” Bumgarner said. “I’m glad to see him try to go for it instead of playing it on a bounce. I liked the aggressive play. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.”
Bochy, asked to assess Bumgarner’s ninestrikeout game, pointed to that play and said, “He’s inches away from getting out of that and having another great start.”
Flores homered off Bumgarner in the fifth, David Peralta took Fernando Abad deep in the seventh and struggling Tony Watson walked three in the eighth, one with the bases loaded.
When Archie Bradley struck out Yastrzemski to end it, the Giants were 6362, and Bochy was one game closer to that free fourday flyfishing trip to Montana.