Jacob deGrom might win the Cy Young Award this season, but on Thursday afternoon, Madison Bumgarner offered a reminder that the Giants have a chance against any pitcher as long as their ace is on the mound.
Bumgarner allowed just one run over eight innings, outlasting deGrom and beating the Mets 3-1. It was a rough road trip, but the Giants certainly had the right guy out there for the final game. Bumgarner improved to 6-0 in six career starts at Citi Field.
The Giants hoped to go 7-3 or 8-2 on this road trip and stay in the NL West race. Instead, they went 4-6. Here’s what you need to know about the final day …
— Bumgarner’s line: 8 innings, 5 hits, 1 run, 0 walks, 8 strikeouts. The lone run came on a Todd Frazier solo shot. Bumgarner balanced that out with an RBI double off deGrom.
— The Giants got two runs — one earned — off deGrom, who was off a touch according to local observers, but still dominated. He struck out 10 in six innings and walked off the mound with a 1.71 ERA.
— Bruce Bochy hit Steven Duggar ninth in part so he could take advantage of his speed without the pitcher behind him. It worked as the Giants took a lead in the third. Duggar walked, stole second, took third on Joe Panik’s groundout, and scored on a passed ball.
— Evan Longoria padded the lead with a long solo homer in the eighth, his second of the series. Longoria has 14 homers in his first season with the Giants, tied with Brandon Belt and fellow offseason addition Andrew McCutchen for the team lead. The 2017 Giants had just two players — Belt and Brandon Crawford — reach 14 homers.
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— Austin Slater’s opposite field approach got to two of the best in the National League. He had a single to right off deGrom a day after doing the same to Noah Syndergaard.
