D-backs’ Madison Bumgarner posts dismal start in loss to Cardinals

Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner watched his ERA balloon to 10.26 following another disappointing start on Wednesday in a 14-5 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Bumgarner (0-3) lasted just three innings in his fourth start of 2023, allowing a season-high seven earned runs on seven hits and four walks. He struck out just two batters before getting pulled.

The Cardinals wasted little time getting the better of Bumgarner on Wednesday afternoon, with St. Louis capitalizing on a trio of doubles and a throwing error to jump out to an early 3-0 lead.

The starter got through the second inning unscathed. The third frame? Not so much.

After a chirpy Willson Contreras walk, Tyler O’Neill ripped a double before a Jordan Walker RBI-single added another tally to the scoreboard.

“For me, it’s like mind games,” Contreras said of his interaction with Bumgarner. “Thankfully, I got in his mind and he blew out in that inning.”

Three batters later, Tommy Edman cleared the bases with a three-run bomb to center on the first pitch he saw.

Bumgarner managed to get out of the inning one batter later thanks to a Dylan Carlson flyout, but the damage had already been done.

Outside of Bumgarner’s three-run outing against the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 7, the pitcher has given up at least five earned runs in every game played this season.

“On the whole, it hasn’t been to the standard that we expect or that Bum expects,” D-backs assistant general manager Mike Fitzgerald told Arizona Sports’ Wolf & Luke shortly after Bumgarner was pulled on Wednesday. “That Dodger start gave you some reason to be, ‘OK, we’re turning the corner here.’ Even the last start, we’re maybe a double play away from having that outing look a little different and then today’s outing was obviously rough.

“But the trust that we have in our coaching staff to continue to look under every rock possible to find ways to get him back on track, we have high trust in that. I know our guys will continue to grind to try to find ways to get him back on track and help the team.”

Bumgarner’s performance took away from a hot start offensively for Arizona, which put up four runs across the first four innings thanks in large part to a pair of home runs from Pavin Smith and Alek Thomas.

Flex on 'em, Alek! 💪 pic.twitter.com/vKuxT8rwhQ

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) April 19, 2023

Bumgarner’s relief didn’t do much better than the starter, either, with Peter Solomon allowing seven earned runs on four hits and four walks across 2.1 innings before Kevin Ginkel took over.

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