OAKLAND — He’d already repeated himself multiple times, but Bruce Bochy wanted to make things very clear. He lobbied for Madison Bumgarner to hit in place of the designated hitter, not the other way around. The manager even recalled Bumgarner thinking it was a joke.
But it certainly wasn’t, and it took all of one plate appearance for Bochy to show off his Midas touch. Bumgarner stepped up in the third inning to a peculiar ovation, and bolted a double off Billy Burns’ glove in center field. He was the first pitcher to hit in place of the designated hitter in 40 years, and evaporated history with one swing of the bat.
“It’s definitely pretty special I was able to do that,” Bumgarner said. “I’m glad I didn’t make (Bochy) look stupid.”
Justifiably so, Bochy leaned back in his office chair with a smile creaked across his face after the game. He spurned his bench players for the best-hitting pitcher most have ever seen, and it worked. Riding one swing of his bat and 6 1/3 innings of his left arm, Bumgarner (9-4, 2.20 ERA) had his fingerprints all over the Giants (50-31) 12-6 win against the A’s (35-44).
He didn’t have to hit a home run to make up for announced absence from this year’s derby, but his leadoff double in the third inning spurred a six-run frame that was the Giants’ breakthrough against a fiery A’s team. A team the Giants only needed to beat once in a four-game series to reach the 50-win plateau, and they did only that, erasing a three-game losing streak on Thursday.
“We needed something tonight from this offense,” Bochy said, “and (Bumgarner) did it.
“He smoked that ball.”
Trying to avoid a leadoff walk to the pitcher, Dillon Overton brushed a fastball over the heart of the plate. Bumgarner turned it around 103.2 miles per hour according to MLB’s StatCast, and didn’t have to run nearly as fast to second base for a double. It was the lone highlight in his 1-for-4 night at the plate, but it was the only one that mattered.
Bumgarner keyed a rally that pushed the next five Giants to reach base, or in two instances, empty them. Buster Posey connected on a three-run home run, and Brandon Crawford torpedoed the next pitch even harder than Bumgarner, zipping a home run to right field at 107 miles per hour.
The third-inning parade extended long enough for Bumgarner to double-dip on the inning that he began. Much to his chagrin, he popped up a first-pitch fastball with a runner on. But he’d never admit to getting greedy, trying to crank a second extra-base hit in the same inning.
Bumgarner’s just fulfilling his duty, adamantly sticking to the job description he’s scripted out for himself.
“I want to be as good a baseball player as I can be,” Bumgarner said, “not just a pitcher. In this league, you gotta hit.”
He did, and that deflected the spotlight away from an average night on the mound. The Giants’ ace tied a season high with four earned runs allowed, getting touched up by Yonder Alonso and Marcus Semien for home runs. He immediately shook his head when asked if his mechanics are where he’d like them to be.
Bumgarner knows the numbers spell a different story, because he began his 17th start of the season with an ERA under two. Two is also the number that’s wrapped Bumgarner up in an endless amount of conversation. That’s how many balls he’s hit over the fence this season. He’s more than willing to take a back seat at the home run derby to position players, some with 10-times as many home runs as he’s hit this year.
“There’s a lot of other guys that are quite a bit more deserving than a pitcher,” Bumgarner said.
But he’ll forever have a spot in the history books, unseating Ken Brett in 1976 as the last pitcher to intentionally hit instead of the DH. Bochy split that year playing minor league ball on the Dubuque Packers and Columbus Astros. As for 26-year-old Madison Bumgarner?
“I didn’t watch many games back then.”
