ST. LOUIS — The Giants lost their 50th road game on Sunday, and here’s the clear if cynical upshot to their 9-2 defeat at Busch Stadium:
At least they can’t lose any more. Sunday’s game was their last on the road this season. The Giants finished 31-50 away from AT&T Park, and they’ll have an offseason to analyze why their offense was at its worst in hitter’s parks, why they went 2-13 on the road against NL Central teams (plus 0-7 in Philadelphia and Miami, and 1-8 at Coors Field!) and how they can be competitive outside of the Pacific Time Zone in 2019.
But Madison Bumgarner sees another upshot. He watched Sunday as Andrew Suárez reached 158 innings this season, a total that leads all NL rookies, while maintaining his composure and his stuff. Bumgarner’s own fractured hand at the end of spring training hastened the arrival of Suárez and Dereck Rodríguez to the majors, and those two rookie pitchers have established themselves as durable and dependable members of a big league rotation.
Even with starting pitching seemingly devalued in today’s game, that is no small achievement. Especially when you know how difficult that first year can be.
“Honestly, I didn’
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Madison Bumgarner
American baseball player (born 1989)
Baseball player
| Madison Bumgarner |
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Bumgarner with the Giants in 2013 |
| Pitcher |
Born: (1989-08-01) August 1, 1989 (age 35)
Hickory, North Carolina, U.S. |
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| September 8, 2009, for the San Francisco Giants |
| Win–loss record | 134–124 |
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| Earned run average | 3.47 |
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| Strikeouts | 2,070 |
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| Stats at Baseball Reference |
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Madison Kyle Bumgarner (born August 1, 1989), nicknamed "MadBum",[1] is an American professional baseballpitcher who is a free agent. Previously, he pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants (2009–19)[2] and Arizona Diamondbacks (2020–23). Bumgarner has won three World Series championships (2010, 2012, 2014) and two Silver Slugger Awards (2014, 2015). He has also been selected to four National League (NL) All-Star teams and has the most strikeouts in franchise history by a Giants left-handed pitcher.[3] He is considered by many to be the greatest World Series pitcher of all time.
Bumgarner played high school baseball at South Caldwell High School in Hudson, North Carolina, where he helped his team win the 2007 4A State Championship. After graduating, he was selected with the tenth overall pick in t