Madison Bumgarner

After winning the first game of the series in dramatic fashion on Friday evening, San Francisco received the post All-Star break boost it had anticipated for the last three months when the club activated Madison Bumgarner on Saturday afternoon.

On Saturday, Madison Bumgarner will return from a three-month absence and start against the San Diego Padres, rejoining a rotation and a team in desperate need of a lift.

Clayton Kershaw, Chris Sale and Max Scherzer are incredible pitchers, and with each passing season, those three players continue to build Hall of Fame resumes. But if it’s Game 7 of the World Series and you have your choice of a horse to ride, San Francisco fans are taking the pitcher who looks like he grew up raising actual horses.

For a roster loaded with players who have contributed to the Giants’ championship culture, the second half of the year will feature what could ultimately feel like an interminable stretch of meaningless baseball.

This offseason, the San Francisco Giants signed closer Mark Melancon to a four-year, $62 million deal that was among the richest contracts ever signed by a Major League reliever. When the Giants start the second half of the season on Friday in San Diego, Melancon won’t even be the highest-paid member of San Francisco’s bullpen.

When the Giants carried baseball’s best record, a 57-33 mark, into last year’s All-Star break, one of their own stood above the rest in the National League. After San Francisco splurged on a seven-year, $130 million contract in the 2016 offseason, Johnny Cueto looked like he was worth every penny. When it came time for Mets’ […]

After a nightmarish start to the 2017 season, the San Francisco Giants will exit the All-Star break with some good news. Madison Bumgarner is coming back.

On Saturday afternoon, Giants’ manager Bruce Bochy said he hoped to give outfielder Mac Williamson an extended look in left field during the second half of July. After rookie left fielder Austin Slater tore the adductor muscle in his right hip, it made sense that the Giants would want to give Williamson more at-bats, especially considering San Francisco has struggled to find a consistent left fielder this year.

As the Giants finally take a deep breath and allow themselves to regroup after a devastating first half of the season, nearly every player on the team will use the All-Star break to relax and reflect. That isn’t the case for Madison Bumgarner, though.

One start after tying his career-high in walks with six, Giants’ left-hander Matt Moore matched another career-high he hoped to avoid altogether. Moore took the hill against the Miami Marlins on Friday evening at AT&T Park and lasted just 3 and 1/3 innings as a Marlins’ lineup led by power-hitter Giancarlo Stanton roughed Moore up to the tune of 12 hits, which tied a career-high Moore set back in 2013 with the Tampa Bay Rays.