Whenever you send out a dominate force like Madison Bumgarner out as your starting pitcher, you have to feel like you have a tremendous chance to earn a victory. Bumgarner, on a hot streak both on the mound and at the plate, took his overpowering repertoire of pitches out with him on Thursday against the Chicago Cubs. In his last start, MadBum compiled six strikeouts and only made it into the seventh for the win; on the other hand, his two previous starts before that he managed to tally a pair of complete games. Though the Cubs' high powered offense probably wouldn't remain dormant long enough for Bumgarner to go nine innings, the San Francisco Giants' confidence sky rocketed with him on the bump.
Despite this confidence, the Cubs were the first to score with a double from Starlin Castro to score Anthony Rizzo, who reached on a single in the second. In the end this would be all the Cubs could achieve against Bumgarner, but knowing the left-hander's fiery play style, even this single run probably disappointed him. It didn't take long for the Giants to strike back as Dan Haren surrendered his first run in the bottom of the second when Juan Perez picked up his second RBI in two days to score Kelby Tomlinson and even the game at one run.
The Giants refused to meddle with a close ball game as they extended their lead to four runs in the third. Matt Duffy singled to score Nori Aoki from third for the first punch of the inning. After Wednesday night's game, Duffy's status was in question as he appeared to sustain an ankle sprain, but with an early hit, it seemed all was well for the Rookie of the Year candidate. Proving his worth once again was Marlon Byrd when he crushed a three-run home run to score Duffy, Brandon Belt (who reached base on a walk) and himself. After three innings the Giants led the Cubs 5-1.
Following the second inning for Bumgarner, everything snapped back into reality for the Cubs as the rest of his night was smooth sailing straight through the Cubs lineup. Typical of Bumgarner, he even picked up a single to help his team on the offensive side. By the time he was replaced by George Kontos in the seventh, he had compiled 12 strikeouts and only allowed the sole run that came in the second inning. The two hits he relinquished also came in the second as he formulated another gem.
Though Dan Haren technically made it deeper into the game as he pitched 6.1 innings, his five earned runs put him in line for a loss unless the Giant bullpen faltered. Unfortunately for the veteran Haren, Kontos dominated in the seventh and Michael Broadway struck out two in the eighth to hold the Cubs at two hits in the ball game.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, the Giants remained relentless as they added four runs to their insurmountable lead in the eighth. The inning began with a walk to Brandon Belt, a double from Buster Posey and an intentional walk to Byrd. With nothing to lose, Kelby Tomlinson approached the plate with dreams of his second home run in his rookie season. He took his hacks seriously and connected with hanging curveball out towards left field for a grand slam, giving the Giants a 9-1 lead. Thursday's day game was one to remember for the young second baseman as he finished 2-for-4 with four RBI and his first ever grand slam.
With the lead now extended to eight, there was no save opportunity to be found for Santiago Casilla. So, Josh Osich was called upon to get some work in. He may have allowed the third hit of the game for the Cubs, but it only took him 10 pitches to close out the game.
When it was all said and done, Madison Bumgarner picked up his 16th win of the season to tie Cubs right-hander Jake Arrieta for the most in the MLB.
Another NL West pitcher continued his dominance as Zack Greinke led the rival Los Angeles Dodgers to a 1-0 win meaning the Giants would remain 3.5 games back.
It's amazing to see the different mentality of the Giants' offense with Bumgarner on the mound. They know that all they need is a couple of runs and have an easy going approach that aides them to constructing an offensive explosion. Even with Brandon Crawford out of the lineup with oblique tightness, the Giants produced enough runs to win just about any game they enter. Three Giant hitters were able to collect two hits as they totaled for 10 hits combined.
With the series officially won against the Cubs, the Giants turn their attention to the the team with the best record in MLB: the St. Louis Cardinals. Just over a week ago the two teams met in St. Louis and the Cards took two out of three games. Now at home and coming off a big win, the Giants look to establish themselves firmly in the playoff race. For game one, the Giants will send out Mike Leake (0-1, 2.19 ERA) searching for his first win as a Giant. The Cardinals will counter with Michael Wacha (15-4, 2.80 ERA) in an attempt to invade AT&T Park.