Madison Bumgarner dominates former team in D-backs win over Giants

PHOENIX — No love was lost between Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner and his former team in a 3-1 D-backs win over the San Francisco Giants at Chase Field on Tuesday night.

The lefty was the catalyst in the victory in a pitching duel against right-hander Johnny Cueto.

Bumgarner went seven strong innings, only allowing one run on six hits (one homer), one walk and striking out four on 99 pitches, 68 of which were strikes.

“Mostly everything, we were moving the ball around good,” Bumgarner said of what was working on the night. “Throwing all four pitches, everything was good tonight. Command was good and that’s the main thing.”

“No, it’s not. It is what it is,” he said of not having former teammates in the lineup. “It’s a strange feeling regardless if they’re in the lineup or not.

“Just the uniform, the team, organization, whatever — it’s a strange feeling. … It’s strange. I don’t really know what else to say about it, it is weird.”

The Giants finished the night only mustering seven hits and left six runners on base while going 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position against three Diamondback pitchers.

“Tonight was Bum’s night. It was seven real clean innings,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “He did everything he possibly could to keep a very good team in check, made those three runs stand up.

“It was changing speeds, working both sides of the plate, limited mistakes and we won this game tonight because of Madison Bumgarner. I know this means a lot to him obviously against his former team but more importantly he helped us win a baseball game and set up the bullpen for two super-clean innings.”

In addition to a quality start, the D-backs starter was aided by some stout defensive plays from the likes of shortstop Nick Ahmed and outfielder Kole Calhoun.

With a runner on second and one out in the top of the fourth, Giants shortstop Thairo Estrada hit a frozen rope to Ahmed, who was able to catch the ball and fire it to second baseman Josh VanMeter for the inning-ending double play.

They don't call him Slick Nick for nothing 😲@Dbacks | #RattleOn pic.twitter.com/G9YFcZ8DBe

— Bally Sports Arizona (@BALLYSPORTSAZ) August 4, 2021

One inning later after the Giants’ Austin Slater lined a two-out double over the head of Calhoun, the newly-acquired Kris Bryant had a foul ball snagged on a diving catch by the former Arizona State Sun Devil.

"IT'S A BIRD…. IT'S A PLANE… NO! IT'S KOLE CALHOUN!!"@Dbacks | #RattleOn pic.twitter.com/0naolMRUE3

— Bally Sports Arizona (@BALLYSPORTSAZ) August 4, 2021

Cueto had a decent outing for NL West-leading San Francisco, tossing five innings and only allowing three runs (two earned) while walking four and striking out seven D-backs on 101 pitches (61 strikes).

All the damage was done in the second inning by the bottom of the Diamondbacks order, with the oddity of a catcher’s balk getting two D-backs in scoring position.

Following an RBI double from Ahmed and a Bumgarner walk, Giants catcher Curt Casali balked by using his mask to grab a ball that was still moving after he blocked the pitch in the dirt — putting runners on second and third.

Two batters later, D-backs third baseman Asdrubal Cabrera drove in the pair to cap off a three-run second inning to make it 3-0 Arizona.

We ❤️ Asdrúbal. #RattleOn pic.twitter.com/qC7jg72E0N

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) August 4, 2021

The Diamondbacks offensively couldn’t take advantage of the eight free passes Giants pitchers gave up on the night.

Arizona left a whopping 12 runners on base on only seven hits, most notably in the bottom of the seventh when Ahmed flew out to center field with two outs and the bases loaded with a chance to blow the game open.

The D-backs finished the night going 1-for-12 (.083) with runners in scoring position.

Tyler Gilbert — who was called up from Triple-A Reno earlier on Tuesday — came on in relief to make his MLB debut in the eighth inning.

The lefty faced three batters and recorded two strikeouts in a perfect 19-pitch inning (13 strikes) to get the hold.

Right-hander Tyler Clippard came on in the ninth to pick up the save and seal the 3-1 win for the D-backs.

“Tyler (Gilbert) comes in in his Major League debut and gives us an unbelievable effort and it couldn’t have been a better night for us on the mound,” Lovullo said. “Offensively things worked really well, we scored those three runs and made it stand up.

“Our pitchers really made tonight happen — the win is on them.”

EXTRA BASES

Olympic bronze medalist in skateboarding and Mesa native Jagger Eaton fired a strike for the ceremonial first pitch.

UP NEXT

The Diamondbacks host the Giants in Game 3 of the four-game set on Thursday night, with a pitching matchup of Zac Gallen vs. Kevin Gausman.

First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. Catch all the action on 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station.

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