Greinke on Bumgarner’s big day: ‘I wish I could have a game like that’
Apr 2, 2017, 3:34 PM | Updated: 7:44 pm
Savage.#OpeningDay pic.twitter.com/SpfVUTFcW7
— MLB (@MLB) April 2, 2017
With an errant curveball, Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke walked Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner on his first at-bat Sunday.
Seems he knew that wasn’t the worst thing that could happen. When Bumgarner was done with his second at-bat against Arizona on Opening Day — the game ended in a 6-5 D-backs win via a Chris Owings walk-off RBI — he’d smacked the hardest-hit home run by a pitcher in the Statcast era.
The ball left MadBum’s bat at 112.5 mph.
“That’s even better when people know you can hit and (they) still have trouble getting him out,” Greinke said of the Giants pitcher. “It’s impressive.”
The home run allowed wasn’t especially great news for Greinke, who after an up-and-down spring went five innings with two earned runs allowed, four strikeouts and two walks. He threw 92 pitches and only 55 were for strikes.
“Just a lot of 3-2 counts early in the game,” Greinke said of his inefficiency.
It also comes after Greinke allowed the longest home run by an opposing pitcher in the Statcast era just more than a week ago to the Chicago Cubs’ Jake Arrieta.
Yet Greinke, whose fastball was at times topping 91 mph, wasn’t alone in setting up Bumgarner for a powerful dinger.
The Giants pitcher smacked his second home run of the day off reliever Andrew Chafin to give San Francisco a 4-3 lead in the top of the seventh frame. That made the Giants ace the first pitcher with a multi-home run game on Opening Day.
The second homer clocked in at 112.1 mph.
Only 16 players hit 2 or more HRs 112 MPH+ last season… Madison Bumgarner did it twice in his first game 🔥🔥🔥
— Daren Willman (@darenw) April 2, 2017
Bumgarner was also doing quite fine on the mound, where he had a no-no going until D-backs catcher Jeff Mathis began a three-run sixth inning with a hit. The San Francisco pitcher went seven innings, allowing three earned runs while striking out 11.
“He was cruising pretty good before that inning,” Greinke said afterward. “I wish I could have a game like that. That was a really good game.”
Hall-of-Famer Don Drysdale is the only other pitcher with multiple Opening Day HR. He hit them in two separate games.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) April 2, 2017
Madison Bumgarner is the first Giants player, regardless of position, to hit multiple HR on Opening Day since Barry Bonds in 2002.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) April 2, 2017
