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SAN FRANCISCO – Just before the break of the stars, the coaches of the Giants sat down and traced their rotation in the second half. They knew for months that they could repel Madison Bumgarner in this latest series if it gave them a head start in the NL West race.
This team, of course, is far from disputed. It's been like that for a while. But the Giants still pushed Bumgarner two days back, which gave him a big step for his last start of the season and the opportunity to get rid of the Dodgers, but put them out of action in the division.
That the offensive did not give rise was not a surprise. But it's a little when Bumgarner only managed six points, allowing three points and two arriving on a big circuit with Justin Turner with a starting runner and a draw. This 3-1 loss was not the way he hoped to end his 2018 season.
Bumgarner's year began with perhaps the brightest spring of his career. A return way to the mound broke the dreams of a career season, and in 21 starts, he posted a 3.26 ERA and 1.24 WHIP. Bumgarner made 6-7, eliminating 109 and walking 43 in 129 2/3 innings. He said that he was especially happy with the season.
"There are some departures in September, I would like to go back and start again, but you can not do it," he said. "But I do not know … I would like to have a complete one (full game)."
For the first time since 2013, Bumgarner will return home for the winter without complete play. He had three consecutive seasons when he started four, but times have changed.
Bumgarner's numbers are always good, and for the most part, he still seems to be part of an ace. But sometimes there are loopholes in the armor. He had a reduced strikeout rate in his second consecutive injury season and was not always as deep as in the past.
Yet his reputation is based on big games and he has not played since the start of the 2016 season. That's why this night was a disappointment.
The Rockies did their part by beating the Nationals earlier in the night to prepare the scene for Bumgarner, who could have kicked the Dodgers two times. Bumgarner had only two clean innings out of six, allowing three runs on seven hits and a walk.
His biggest mistake was discordant.
With one runner and one in sixth, he pitched a fastball to Turner who came in just 90 mph and crossed the center of the plate. Turner blew him in the center left, breaking a tie as Bumgarner slowly turned and watched the ball fly away. Bumgarner was trying to throw a fastball, a field with which he had a lot of success against Turner.
"It has not been imported as much as I would like," he said. "I've thrown it a few times, he's a good hitter, he's done a good fit and he's done it."
A round later, Bumgarner was gone for the winter, and it will not be the kind of playoffs that a star would want to handle. There is no way to get around it. Bumgarner, who has another year on the contract, is the best commercial chip of a struggling organization, and perhaps the best launch option available to competitors this season. The Giants do not want to trade Bumgarner, and he does not want to go, but the new baseball operations manager can walk through the door, look at a list that was embarrassed on Friday and determine that this is the only way forward.
Bumgarner said that he was not thinking about the possibility that it would be his last match in orange and black. His manager said the same thing.
"Not at all," said Bruce Bochy. "He signed next year, that is how I see him, that he will be there next year and I hope that it will be longer. . "
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