Giants Madison Bumgarner Continues World Series Mastery with Dominant Game 1 Win: This has been Madison Bumgarner’s postseason. More so than his 2010 playoff debut, and more than his last two stellar regular seasons, this October has been Bumgarner’s national unveiling. After the San Francisco Giants ace again obliterated another playoff lineup with seven innings of one-run ball against the Kansas City Royals in Game 1 of the World Series on Tuesday night, he became the first pitcher in major league history with three consecutive Fall Classic starts of one run or fewer and three hits or fewer, per SB Nations Katie Sharp. Bumgarner’s start, which helped in a 7-1 shellacking at Kauffman Stadium, gave the Giants a 1-0 series lead. He had also pitched 21.2 consecutive scoreless World Series innings dating back to 2010 before Salvador Perez hit a solo home run in the seventh, and his 33.1 consecutive scoreless playoff innings on the road, including 23.1 this year, is the major league record. “He keeps defining himself as an ace with every start,” Tom Verducci said after the game on the Fox broadcast. There is no debating that. There should also be no debate about who the best pitcher in baseball is right now. It is still Clayton Kershaw. But as far as the best “big-game” pitcher—no, not James Shields—there is also no debate. It is Bumgarner, through and through. The left-hander from Hickory, North Carolina, debuted in his first postseason game at 21 years old at a time when the Giants were still scratching the surface of how good Bumgarner could be. He entered that postseason with a ton of promise, having allowed five earned runs in his final 38 regular-season innings (1.18 ERA). He then went into the playoffs and was average in his first two starts—five earned runs in 10.2 innings in the National League Division and Championship Series. But after two shutout innings in relief in the NLCS, Bumgarner got the ball for Game 4 of the World Series and started on that scoreless-innings streak by giving the Giants eight shutout frames against the Texas Rangers. In 2012, after an OK regular season and a 5.89 ERA in his final 36.2 regular-season innings, Bumgarner allowed 10 runs in his first eight postseason innings. But again he dominated in the World Series, delivering seven shutout frames in Game 2 against the Detroit Tigers. This season, Bumgarner was the Giants’ ace. With Tim Lincecum little more than a San Diego nightmare and Matt Cain hurt, the rotation was Bumgarner’s to lead, and he accepted. A season after posting a 2.77 ERA, 3.05 FIP and 124 ERA-plus in 201.1 innings, Bumgarner followed up with a 2.98 ERA, 3.05 FIP and 117 ERA-plus in 217.1 innings. In his final 10 starts, Bumgarner was flat-out wonderful: 72.1 innings, 76 strikeouts, seven walks, 2.12 ERA and the team went 7-3 to secure its wild-card berth. At 25 years old, Bumgarner has become the game’s premiere postseason pitcher and has already produced some of the best World Series numbers the game has ever seen. He is 3-0 in three starts and has 19 strikeouts and five walks in 22 innings. He’s allowed just one run, the homer by Perez, across those starts. His streak of 21 consecutive shutout innings to start a World Series career is second to Christy Mathewson’s 28. Madison Bumgarners 1.40 ERA is the lowest in a single postseason, min. 5 starts since Curt Schillings 1.12 in 2001 — Joel Goldberg (@goldbergkc) October 22, 2014 3+ #WorldSeries game wins before age 26 Madison Bumgarner 3 Jim Palmer 3 Babe Ruth 3 Ernie Shore 3 Smoky Joe Wood 3 Christy Mathewson 3 — Ace of MLB Stats (@AceballStats) October 22, 2014 Bumgarner is providing the Giants with the kind of advantage other teams pay big money to have. Kershaw, Justin Verlander, CC Sabathia and Felix Hernandez all get a small country’s gross national income to be great when it matters most, but those names either can’t live up to the duty or their teams can’t even get them to that stage. Bumgarner is doing it, and he is doing it for cheap, which he will continue to be for at least the next five years if the Giants choose to play out his current contract. Bumgarner signed an extension in 2012 before hitting arbitration. That deal, which was worth $35 million, gives the Giants control through 2019 thanks to two club options. The final year of that contract would pay Bumgarner $12 million. Frankly, it is amazing that a pitcher of Bumgarner’s caliber could be making that insanely small amount (relative to the work force) as salaries increase all around him. For that, Bumgarner is not only the biggest bargain as far as aces go, but he would be a huge bargain if he were a No. 3 starter. For some contrast, the Cincinnati Reds will pay Homer Bailey $23 million in 2019, and he has a career 4.17 ERA and 3.99 FIP. Bumgarner’s career ERA is 3.06 and his FIP is 3.15. It makes you shake your head. Bumgarner gives the Giants the kind of weapon few if any teams have. The ace who can continue being one in October, home or away, is invaluable for championship runs. The Giants have seen that in the past and they are seeing it now. And if history is the indicator, they will continue to have it on the cheap through Bumgarner’s prime years. “I’m not here to set records and keep streaks going or whatever,” Bumgarner said in his postgame press conference. “I’m just trying to compete.” Meanwhile, the Giants are now three wins away from a third World Series ring in five seasons, and Bumgarner is a major reason for such success, even if he doesn’t throw another pitch in this series. Anthony Witrado covers Major League Baseball for Bleacher Report. He spent the previous three seasons as the national baseball columnist at Sporting News, and four years before that as the Brewers beat writer for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Follow Anthony on Twitter @awitrado and talk baseball here. Read more MLB news on BleacherReport #Baseball #MLB #NLWest #SanFranciscoGiants
Posted on: Wed, 22 Oct 2014 05:45:58 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015