In a homecoming game for Madison Bumgarner, the former Giants ace who played 11 season in the Bay Area returned to face his old team with the Diamondbacks. He gave up 2 runs in four innings work and took the loss.
In the day's leading up to Madison Bumgarner's return to Oracle Park, the Giants weren't very interested in talking about the past. Asked about getting a chance to face his friend, Brandon Belt said he likes to be in the lineup against any lefty. Asked about the 2014 World Series, manager Gabe Kapler confirmed that he had watched it, but offered little else.
The Giants aren't looking at the past right now, they're looking forward to this October. In that respect, Saturday's win was a pretty big one.
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The Giants scored a couple early runs off Bumgarner and held on for a 4-3 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks, getting to 19-21 at the two-thirds point of the season. They kept pace with the other teams vying for an NL Wild Card spot. Here are three things to know ...
Bum's Return
Bumgarner's first start against the Giants came with very little drama, and no signs that this was a longtime face of the franchise making his return. He went four innings, allowing two earned runs on three hits, two of which were solo homers.
Evan Longoria and Darin Ruf went back-to-back in the second, with Ruf's bomb going 453 feet to straightaway center. Other than that, Bumgarner didn't have much trouble, although his command certainly was off in his first start in a month and his fastball was still down. Bumgarner averaged 88.7 mph, which was a step up from his four previous starts but way down from his norm. He has said he was thrown off physically by the short ramp-up to the season.
Rapid Transit
Joey Bart yanked a low curveball off the left field wall in the sixth for his first career triple and scored seconds later on Mauricio Dubon's first career triple.
Bart had a sprint speed of 28.1 feet-per-second on his triple, which is what J.T. Realmuto -- the game's fastest catcher -- averages. He entered the night ranked ninth among big league catchers in sprint speed at 26.4 feet-per-second, which is just below league average for any position.
It certainly helps to have young and fresh legs, but there's no doubt that Bart runs well for a guy that size. He's listed at 6-foot-2, 238 pounds.
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Cahill's Return
Trevor Cahill came back from a hip injury but lasted just 2 2/3 innings. Manager Gabe Kapler was super-aggressive with his bullpen, bringing Caleb Baragar in when Cahill put two on in the third inning. Baragar got out of that jam and pitched another scoreless inning, starting the bullpen parade. Cahill has lasted more than four innings just once in five starts.
Seven different relievers combined to throw 6 1/3 innings for Kapler. Sam Selman got the biggest out of the night, striking out Josh Rojas with two on and a one-run lead in the eighth.