Madison Bumgarner loses pitching duel as San Francisco Giants shut out 2-0 by the Mariners

Jun 17, 2015; Seattle, WA, USA; San Francisco Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner (40) throws against the Seattle Mariners during the second inning at Safeco Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

You hear that poker players? Apparently there are times when a king beats an ace. I know—I was shocked, too. I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. We shouldn’t be surprised. In a city where horses change colors, trees can talk and monkeys can fly…what? That’s a different Emerald City? Well, some pretty strange things happen in this one too.

Our ace, Madison Bumgarner, held the Mariners hitless until the fifth inning. The first Mariner to get on board reached on a bad hop that was scored a hit and advanced to second on Brandon Crawford’s throwing error. Bumgarner struck out the next guy, and the hitter who followed lined out to first base, so no runs scored. No harm, no foul.

The sixth inning was a different story–or that “horse of a different color you’ve heard tell about”–with a runner on first, their center fielder hit a ball out to Angel Pagan, who–for whatever reason–missed the catch and the Mariners ended up with a triple and an RBI. The Mariners scored another run when their second baseman followed with a double. 

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Bumgarner pitched a gem. He had his strike out pitches working, fanning nine batters in eight innings pitched. He gave up two runs on four hits and one walk. But he had no run support.  Manager Bruce Bochy said after the game: “what a terrific game he pitched…two games in a row he’s been shut out, he’s just pitched great ball.”

In a game that was part Clash of the Titans, part Wizard of Oz, the Mariner’s pitcher allowed the Giants just four hits—twice Matt Duffy reached on base hits, Joe Panik and Buster Posey had one hit each. Panik and Casey McGehee both drew walks—but they weren’t able to string anything together to put a run on the board. The final score was: Giants 0, Seattle 2

Maybe the Giants should have clicked their cleats together, closed their eyes and said to themselves: there’s no plate like home, there’s no plate like home, there’s no plate like home.