Struck by line drive early, Bumgarner lifted after 2

Cardinals-Giants:

The game ended too late for this edition; see report at SFChronicle.com.

The ball shot off the bat of 6foot6 Jose Martinez at 98.3 miles a hour, a boneseeking missile. When it slammed off Madison Bumgarner's pitching arm, at the top of his elbow, Bumgarner did not wince. He did not grab the arm. He looked skyward for the ball.

That was who Madison Bumgarner was day he arrived in San Francisco a decade ago, and that was Bumgarner on Saturday night in a start against the Cardinals that ended after two innings clearly not his choice. Bumgarner was diagnosed with an elbow contusion and taken for Xrays, which were negative.

Even if Bumgarner were not one of the Giants' two biggest

trade chips ahead of the July 31 deadline, they had no good reason to take chances with the one of the best left arms in franchise history.

He was allowed to complete a 30pitch first inning, striking out two of the three hitters after he was struck by Martinez's ball. He also pitched the second inning, struck out at the plate in the bottom half, then was pulled in a tie game.

Austin Slater broke a 11 tie in the fourth inning with the Giants first pinch grand slam in 16 years and Pablo Sandoval added a tworun homer.

Sam Dyson, Reyes Moronta and Mark Melancon combined for five shutout innings before Paul Goldschmidt hit a threerun homer in the eighth off Tony Watson.

Bumgarner went to the mound for the third inning after a dugout discussion with manager Bruce Bochy, catcher Buster Posey and head athletic trainer Dave Groeschner. Only after Bumgarner reached the mound did Bochy and Groeschner walk out to remove him.

It seemed as if Bumgarner wanted it to be that way so the crowd knew that he did not want out.

If nothing else, the bruise decreases the likelihood that Bumgarner will be traded well ahead of the deadline. Teams will want to see his arm comes out of this.

The fans had given Bumgarner an ovation louder and longer than usual when he first took the field in what penciled out as his penultimate start at Oracle Park before the trade deadline. Henry Schulman is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: hschulman@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @hankschulman

Madison Bumgarner exits before the third inning against St. Louis. The back of his left arm was hit by a liner in the first.