Rangers Blanked 4-0, Pushed To Brink As Bumgarner Dazzles For Giants

Bumgarner’s only 21 years old, but in the biggest start of his life, he had all the composure of a 33 year old veteran. Game score is only one way to measure the quality of a performance - a statistic that assigns a pitcher a grade based on things like strikeouts, walks, and hits allowed - but Bumgarner’s Game 4 game score of 80 stands as his highest of the season. In other words, one could say that Bumgarner saved his best start of 2010 for when he needed it the most.

The key for Bumgarner was establishing the inner part of the zone against right-handed hitters. Once he showed that he was able to work inside and comfortable doing it, he was free to throw wherever he wanted, and he had good success pitching to all areas. Remarkably, only six of the pitches that Bumgarner threw righties could be considered ‘down the middle’. He stayed away from the happy spots, and that allowed him to avoid the fat part of the bat.

Faced with the prospect of continuing with a struggling starter or going to the bullpen, Ron Washington decided on the bullpen for the fifth. Hunter’s outing ended at the 83-pitch mark. He only allowed the two runs in four innings, but at no point did he look comfortable, and it’s worth noting that, of the 38 swings that Giants hitters took against Hunter, only two of them missed. Hunter is a contact pitcher, and he didn’t flash a putaway pitch all game, allowing the hitters to foul pitches off and wait for something to drive.

Barring an unlikely late-series bullpen appearance, this is how Tommy Hunter’s 2010 season will close. It’s not likely to leave a great taste in the big man’s mouth.

But beyond what he did behind the plate, Posey was also able to make a contribution with the bat. With the score 3-0 Giants in the top of the eighth, Posey stood in against Darren O’Day - who had retired him in an important at bat the night before - and blasted a two-strike changeup to center field. The fly ball didn’t look so bad off the bat, but it continued to carry and came down several feet beyond the fence.

Posey has by no means been ineffective at the plate in the playoffs, batting .273. But this insurance home run was his first home run of the month, and the first postseason home run of his career. Though it may not have had the most in-game significance, it is a very important and memorable moment for Posey as an individual and as a blossoming superstar.

Madison Bumgarner didn’t just get the job done Sunday night against the Rangers - he got all jobs done. He went to work, and by the time he was finished, everything was all wrapped up in a package with a neat little bow on the top.

McCovey Chronicles takes this opportunity to reflect on what Bumgarner was, and to discuss what his Game 4 start will become with the passage of time:

The Giants won five championships while stationed in New York but lost all three of their World Series appearances since moving to San Francisco in 1958, a distinction that came closer to falling following their fourth shutout this postseason, including a 9-0 drubbing in Game 2 that gave the National League champions a 2-0 series lead.

Of the 41 teams leading a World Series 2-1 who won Game 4, 35 have gone on to win the Series.

With a pitch count of 106 and the top of the Texas order due up, Bumgarner’s night is almost certainly complete. But what a night. His numbers:

8 innings

3 hits

0 runs

2 walks

6 strikeouts

106 pitches (69 strikes)

But just because Bumgarner has everybody’s confidence doesn’t mean anyone’s opposed to giving him some insurance runs of support, and the Giant bats were able to help him out a bit more in the top of the seventh.

Replays showed that Andrus very narrowly beat the throw to first - the second close call that Jeff Kellogg has made that went against the Rangers. So they have that reason to be upset. But Jeff Kellogg isn’t the reason they still trail by two after six innings.

4 innings

5 hits

2 runs

1 walk

1 strikeout

83 pitches (55 strikes)

Hunter only generated two swinging strikes in the start, and has now thrown just 11.1 total innings over three starts in the playoffs.

He very nearly drove one home. Schierholtz blooped a ball into shallow center field that looked like it would drop in for a single, but Josh Hamilton sprinted forward and made a diving catch to rob Schierholtz of a hit, and the Giants of a run. Because of Hamilton’s heroics, it’s scoreless entering the bottom of the second.

Hunter has thrown 44 pitches - 11 after the missed call at first base.

Bruce Bochy has revealed his starting lineup for Game 4 of the World Series, and it looks a fair bit different from the lineup that amassed all of two runs in Saturday’s Game 3.

In the World Series, every game requires its own festivities. Saturday, the Rangers trotted out Nolan Ryan, Kelly Clarkson, and Martha Plimpton. And Sunday, they’re aiming even higher.

The ceremonial first pitch will be thrown by George W. Bush, who was the 43rd president of the United States. GWB was the Rangers’ managing general partner from 1989-1994, and was a part of the team’s ownership group from 1989-1998. He’ll be accompanied to the mound by his father, George H.W. Bush, who was the country’s 41st president. The pitch will be caught by Nolan Ryan, who seems to be involved in everything.

Lewis (1-0) delivered in a key spot by yielding five hits and two runs while fanning six over 7 2/3 frames. The right-hander moved to 3-0 with a 1.71 ERA in four starts this postseason.

“I feel very fortunate to be on this stage really, like everybody says. I was in a Japan for the last two years not thinking I would have this opportunity,” Lewis said. “But I’m here, trying to make the most of it, and it’s just a great feeling to be back here to have this big of a following, and like I said, to do it on this stage.”