At age 20, Bumgarner earned first MLB win
This story was originally published on July 7, 2010.
MILWAUKEE cc >> Madison Bumgarner must wait 31/2 more weeks to chug a beer legally. But he isn’t too young to knock back the Brewers.
The 20-year-old lefthander pitched to his lofty potential, reached a career milestone and helped the Giants keep some momentum on their side Tuesday night. Bumgarner threw eight shutout innings to earn his first major league victory in a 6-1 win at Miller Park.
“It hasn’t really settled in yet,” said Bumgarner, who limited the Brewers to three hits — all singles — along with three walks, five strikeouts and a hit batter in a 115-pitch effort. “It’s a very humbling experience to get a win up here. This is the best there is.”
Bumgarner (1-2) received a game ball, a signed lineup card — and a not-so-surprising shower of Milwaukee’s finest liquid refreshment from teammates. Rest assured, the quiet, countrystrong kid from North Carolina kept his mouth shut the whole time.
At 20 years, 340 days, Bumgarner became the youngest Giants pitcher to win a major league game since right-hander Matt Cain in 2005. Cain was just two days younger than Bumgarner — 20 years, 338 days — when he broke into the victory column.
Cain and Bumgarner throw with different arms, but they share a few other attributes. “I’ve always said he’s a guy who goes out and competes every time,” catcher Buster Posey said of Bumgarner. “Even if he doesn’t feel good or doesn’t have his best stuff, he’ll do what he can to give you a chance to win.
“He’s very mature on the mound. I was impressed with his poise. He kept it throughout the game.”
Brewers shortstops didn’t, and they might be drowning their sorrows as a result. Amazingly, for the second consecutive game,
the Giants roared to their winning rally when a Brewers shortstop bungled a potential double-play ground ball.
In Monday night’s 6-1 victory, rookie Alcides Escobar opened the door to a fourrun seventh inning. This time, it was veteran Craig Counsell who hung his head after his gulp moment led to a five-run sixth.
In a scoreless game, Counsell fielded Pablo Sandoval’s routine grounder with the bases loaded and one out. It looked as if Sandoval would add an NLhigh 19th double play to his woodpile. But Counsell’s little sidearm throw to second base sailed into the outfield as two runs scored.
Travis Ishikawa followed with a two-run single that glanced off second baseman Rickie Weeks’ glove.
“We got a break, we know it,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “But you’ve still got to take advantage of them.”
Ishikawa was an unlikely hero. He entered the game with just two at-bats all season against left-handed pitchers (and had struck out in both of them). He got a start against left-hander Randy Wolf because a tired Aubrey Huff was on the verge of spontaneous combustion.
Ishikawa struck out feebly and hit into a fielder’s choice in his first two trips against Wolf. But he came through in the sixth.
“It’s hard to have a game plan in that situation,” Ishikawa said. “I just wanted to not chase out of the zone. If I was going to make an out, I wanted to hit the ball hard or at least get a good pitch to hit.”
Bumgarner followed with the Giants’ only other hit in the inning — another runscoring single — to complete the rally.
“He got a bunt down, got a hit, had a rocket hit back at him and made it look easy — he had it all going for him,” Bochy said. “At 20 years old, he’s got great composure out there. Just a good look about him.”
Even though Bumgarner lost each of his two previous starts, Posey said, “To me, this is his third quality start in a row. He really threw in and out. He had that cutter working. Then he started flipping curveballs for strikes the second and third time through the lineup. He did a great job.”
Epilogue: Bumgarner went on to win 118 more games for the Giants, and carried them through the 2014 series with an epic performance that included two wins and a five-inning save in Game 7. He left the Giants last winter after 10 seasons, signing a fiveyear contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks for $85 million.