Long-ball bug bites Bumgarner
Giants starter blasts his third homer of the year but also allows three to Cardinals
SAN FRANCISCO >> For five-plus innings, Madison Bumgarner was nearly perfect. He just couldn’t stay away from the long ball.
After retiring the first 11 batters he faced at AT&T Park on Sunday, Bumgarner coughed up back-to-back home runs in the fourth and then surrendered another big fly in the fifth that cemented the Giants fate in a 7-3 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.
“I didn’t give us a chance to win today. I let that game get away from us,” Bumgarner said. “I’ve got to find a way not to do that, can’t let that happen.”
Rookie shortstop Paul DeJong spoiled Bumgarner’s early bid for a perfect game with two outs in the fourth, launching a cutter to left field, tying the game at 1-1. The next batter, Jose Martinez, followed suit, sending an inside changeup into the bleachers in left-center field to give the Cardinals the lead.
But Bumgarner (3-7) wasn’t going to wait around for his teammates to get one back.
After he put together a 1-2-3 inning in the fifth, he used his plate appearance in the bottom of the inning to smash his third home run of the season, a towering shot to left off Cardinals starter Luke Weaver (4-1) that sailed 420 feet.
The game-tying shot was Bumgarner’s first since his two-home run performance on opening day. The long ball made him the first major league pitcher since Earl Wilson in 1967 to record three or more home runs in four consecutive seasons.
But Bumgarner’s moment of redemption didn’t last.
With one out in the sixth, he surrendered his third hit of the game, another home run, a blast to left-center from rookie center fielder Harrison Bader.
The home run was the 14th surrendered by Bumgarner, who missed his scheduled start Thursday with flu-like symptoms, in 14 starts this season.
“It is a sign of the times,” manager Bruce Bochy said, pointing out that baseballs are flying out of the parks across the majors at a record pace this season. “You saw today. There were some balls that I thought were routine and they were carrying to the warning track.
“It’s part of the game now, this long ball. It’s historic, the numbers you’re looking at in August, and really from day one, home runs were being hit.”
But Bumgarner disagreed with his manager’s explanation of his propensity for giving up home runs this season. The surly left-hander doesn’t think it has anything to do with the baseball, his illness earlier in the series or the Bay Area’s warm weather, which allowed the ball to carry further this weekend.
“I’m pretty sure every one of them was probably just right there, middle-middle,” Bumgarner said. “That’s what guys are supposed to do with it. No matter what pitch it is, how hard it is, if you leave it right there too often and make a couple of mistakes there, that’s what’s going to happen.”
Two of the home runs that Bumgarner surrendered were in the middle of the plate and seven of the 14 he’s coughed up this season are considered, “middle-middle,” according to Statcast.
Bumgarner would have given up four home runs had center fielder Gorkys Hernandez not leaped and hauled one back from beyond the Bank of America sign in center in the first.
“He saved my heinie a couple of times,” Bumgarner said, adding later: “I wish I could have made it a little more meaningful. Nonetheless, it was a spectacular play.”
Hernandez also made a dazzling catch with the bases loaded in the seventh, chasing down a fly ball at the warning track in the deepest part of the yard near Triples Alley with an over-the-shoulder grab. He did it again in the ninth, making a sliding catch at the warning track in the left-center gap.
Denard Span, who’s been criticized for his lack of range in center this season, should have taken notice.
“I’m trying to add up the runs that he saved us,” Bochy said. “That’s one of the best-defensive games I’ve seen one player have with all the plays he made. He’s a gifted outfielder.”
After Bumgarner gave up his third home run, he flew over the handlebars, walking Tommy Pham and allowing him to score on a double from Martinez. The next hitter, Yadier Molina, doubled, too, giving the Cardinals a 5-2 lead.
With Bumgarner out of the game, the Cardinals exploited the Giants bullpen in the seventh, scoring two runs off Kyle Crick, who gave up two hits and three walks in two-thirds of an inning.
The Giants scored the game’s first run in the first inning when Buster Posey singled in Joe Panik from second.
Catcher Tim Federowicz, who was recalled from Triple-A Sacramento on Friday, smacked a home run to left in the eighth while pinch hitting in the pitcher’s spot.
• The Giants recalled outfielder Mac Williamson and infielder Orlando Calixte from Triple-A Sacramento on Sunday. Williamson went 2 for 4 with two doubles.
• Outfielder Austin Slater will rejoin the Giants roster in Colorado next week after he completes a nine-inning rehabilitation assignment with Triple-A Sacramento on Monday.
Unfortunately, Slater, who’s been on the disabled list with a right groin strain since July 8, won’t get a longer minor league rehabilitation assignment because the River Cats season ends Monday.
“It’s a tough deal with Slater because you would like for him to get more at-bats and more playing time on his rehab,” Bochy said. “He’s missed a lot of time with his injury. The last thing I want for him is to come up and not have his timing, struggle and go into the offseason having some struggles.”
• Matt Moore pitched the eighth and ninth innings for the Giants on Sunday, his first relief appearance since Sept. 17, 2011.
Moore’s temporary move to the bullpen means that Chris Stratton will take his spot in the rotation in Colorado on Monday.
Bochy said Moore will get a start next weekend when the team travels to Chicago for a three-game set against the White Sox.
“I didn’t want him going too long without getting on the mound,” Bochy said. “What I saw was a very good two innings.”
• Pablo Sandoval went 0 for 3. He’s now without a hit in his past 29 plate appearances.