As Joe Sheehan pointed out today, Madison Bumgarner entered his Game 2 start with a 7.46 ERA since the 20th of August -- when he pitched eight scoreless innings against the Giants -- including two postseason starts that didn't go well. It's pretty obvious that Bruce Bochy turned to Bumgarner in this one largely because he didn't have a better option.
Six up, six down in uneventful first inning
Bumgarner's off to a good start in Game 2, though. He struck out Tigers leadoff man Austin Jackson looking, then got Omar Infante swinging. Miguel Cabrera hit a grounder pretty hard, but right at Brandon Crawford and Bumgarner was out of the first inning with only 13 pitches.
In the bottom of the frame, Doug Fister was nearly as impressive. He struck out Ángel Pagán, got "professional hitter" Marco Scutaro on a grounder to shortstop, and kept Pablo "Babe Reggie" Sandoval from hitting a home run (specifically, a high fly ball into the left-field corner).
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