Madison Bumgarner Shuts Down Dodgers in 6-1 Win
In this story:
Madison Bumgarner was fabulous for six innings and the Diamondbacks offense rediscovered their identity in a 6-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Bumgarner threw six innings, allowing just one hit, a solo home run by Mookie Betts to lead off the fourth inning. Prior to that Bumgarner had retired the first nine batters in order. Not ruffled in the slightest, he retired 12 of the next 13 batters he faced. He walked Trayce Thompson in the fifth inning.
His final line of 6 IP, 1 hit, 1 run, 1 walk and five strikeouts was his best game dating back to July 23rd, an eight inning, two run start against the Nationals. In between Bumgarner endured a nine start stretch in which he was 0-6 and had a 7.82 ERA. With questions swirling around him and pitching coach Brent Strom on how to fix his problems, they may have found something tonight.
Of the 85 pitches Bumgarner threw, 37 or 44% were curveballs. His season average curveball use coming in was 18%. He was landing the pitch for strikes, and inducing swing and miss and weak contact with it all night.
The offense rediscovered their identity as well. Coming into the game the D-backs were in a team wide slump, and had been unable to put their speed advantage to use. But right from the outset they were determined to get back to the things that were working previously.
Daulton Varsho walked to lead off the game against Dodgers starter Dustin May, stole second base, and scored on a Christian Walker broken bat single. Almost the exact same scenario repeated in the third inning. This time Jake McCarthy walked, stole second base, and Walker lined an RBI single to left.
The big hit came in the 4th inning however. A double by Carson Kelly, a single by Geraldo Perdomo, and a hit by pitch for Varsho loaded the bases for Corbin Carroll. The electric rookie laced a double to the right centerfield wall clearing the bases and giving the D-backs a 5-1 lead.
Not done using their speed to score runs, Jake McCarthy was hit by a pitch to start the seventh. He went to second on a ground out and advanced to third on wild pitch. Emmanuel Rivera lifted a shallow fly to left fielder Miguel Vargas. McCarthy took off, testing the rookie outfielder's arm and slid in just under the tag in a collision with Austin Barnes for the D-backs sixth run.
The D-backs bullpen had a good night as well. Kevin Ginkel had a scoreless seventh after a rough game yesterday. Ian Kennedy worked his first scoreless inning since September 2nd, having allowed runs in each of his previous five outings. And Mark Melancon worked around some bad luck in the ninth to strand two runners and seal the victory.
The D-backs have now won two games in a row at Dodger Stadium for the first time since 2018. They have pulled even in this five game series at two each, and will go for the series victory tomorrow night at 7:10 P.M. MST.
In what shapes up as a pitcher's duel, Zac Gallen (12-3, 2.52 ERA) will face Julio Urias (17-7, 2.27 ERA)
