Giants close out 2-0 Game 2 win, now lead World Series 2-0

For six innings, Game 2 of the 2012 World Series was the Bumgarner & Fister Show.

The Giants scored their runs on a double-play grounder and a routine fly ball. But the Tigers collected only two hits, and got only two runners as far as second base. They were shut out only twice during the regular season, but have now been whitewashed twice in this postseason.

Which is more surprising? Which is more impressive?

Bumgarner hasn’t pitched this well since late August. Fister took a line drive off this cranium in the second inning. So, you choose which is more surprising.

Well, we’re six innings into Game 2, and Bumgarner’s pitching a shutout. He’s already recorded eight strikeouts, which he hadn’t done in a single game since the 20th of August. He did issue his first walk in the sixth, to Austin Jackson ... who, just a couple of pitches earlier, had lined a foul ball a long way into the stands down the left-field line.

So after less than hour, they’re still scoreless and heading to the fourth inning in San Francisco.

Instead, I’ll tell you a bit about Bumgarner as a hitter -- he’s one of those unusual lefthanders who bats righthanded. Sandy Koufax was perhaps the most famous one, though Koufax was a terrible hitter. Bumgarner can hit, a little: he hit two home runs during the 2012 regular season, though he struck out 25 times in 68 at-bats and has been 0-for-2 (both strikeouts) so far this postseason.