Madison Bumgarner, D-backs offense deliver in July 4 win over Giants

Jul 4, 2022, 8:08 PM

Madison Bumgarner #40 of the Arizona Diamondbacks pitches in the first inning against the San Francisco Giants at Chase Field on July 04, 2022 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images)

(Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images)

BY JAKE ANDERSON

Arizona Sports

PHOENIX — Does it get any more American than America’s pastime on the Fourth of July?

In front of 27,752 fans at Chase Field on Monday evening, the Arizona Diamondbacks (36-44) beat the National League West rival San Francisco Giants (40-38) by a score of 8-3.

Diamondbacks starter Madison Bumgarner wasn’t at his best against his former team, but the left-handed pitcher did enough to keep his team in the ballgame and pass it over to the bullpen with a lead.

Bumgarner went five innings and allowed three runs (all earned) on five hits, three walks and two hit-by-pitches while striking out four Giants on an even 100 pitches and 60 strikes.

“I was excited to pitch on the Fourth of July,” Bumgarner said postgame. “It’s a special day to me, I’m proud to be an American. If not for (Zach) Davies — I would like to have him in the rotation — but when we had to cover a spot, I knew I’d be throwing on the Fourth and I was excited. It’s awesome, special for me.”

“I’m trying to figure out if it’s something physical and just not making the pitches or if it’s mental trying to be too perfect with each one instead of just going after guys and getting ahead,” Bumgarner said of his command issues. “[The latter] is probably what I’m leaning toward but I’m not too sure. We’re definitely going to try to rearrange that and fix it because I’m not getting paid to go five innings every time.”

The bullpen couldn’t have performed any better for Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo, as the three arms he elected to go with in the final four frames continued to put up goose eggs and handed the ball over to the next guy.

Right-hander Sean Poppen tossed one shutout inning on 19 pitches and 13 strikes before lefty reliever Joe Mantiply went two scoreless innings after usual setup man Ian Kennedy was placed on the 15-day injured list due to right calf inflammation prior to first pitch on Monday.

Mantiply struck out four of the seven batters he faced on 32 pitches (23 strikes) and handed the ball over to closer Mark Melancon, who started warming up in a save situation with the D-backs up 6-3 until two insurance runs in the bottom half of the eighth negated the save opportunity.

Melancon came on in the ninth and retired all three batters he faced in the Giants’ Joc Pederson, Brandon Belt and Mike Yastrzemski.

San Francisco managed seven hits on the day — only two of which came after the third inning — but left seven runners on base and went 2-for-8 (.250) with runners in scoring position.

“The bullpen took over,” Lovullo said postgame. “We talk about being uncommon here — I asked Joe Mantiply to go two full innings. I was trying to keep their lefties on the bench, it’s no mystery. And Joe in a very uncommon way gave us two unbelievable innings. Darn close to 40 pitches over two days but he didn’t waver. He went out there and executed it. It was great to watch. The back side of the bullpen did a really nice job.”

Offensively, the D-backs were led by outfielder Daulton Varsho, who had three hits and three RBI to go along with his fifth stolen base of the year.

And while this play won’t stand out in the scorebook, the recently-turned 26-year-old managed to score from first base on a Geraldo Perdomo sac-bunt thanks to some aggressive baserunning that forced a throwing error by Giants first baseman Wilmer Flores in the bottom of the second inning to give the D-backs a 3-2 lead:

pic.twitter.com/EWm8x8o2Fu https://t.co/MvZ66Ff9Jq

— Jake Anderson (@jwa1994) July 4, 2022

Buddy Kennedy and Josh Rojas were right behind Varsho with two hits apiece, with the rookie second baseman knocking in two runs and the third baseman bringing in one. Ketel Marte, who went 1-for-4 on the day with a double, had the team’s other RBI as the Diamondbacks left five runners on base and were 4-for-12 (.333) with runners in scoring position.