Posey, MadBum share spotlight in Giants' wild 8-7 win

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SAN FRANCISCO -- Giants fans will have to wait a little bit longer to watch Madison Bumgarner face Buster Posey for the first time. Posey was held out of the lineup last week when the Giants faced their longtime ace, and during this quick visit to San Francisco, the Diamondbacks do not have Bumgarner lined up to pitch.

But on Tuesday night, it was a somewhat familiar story at Oracle Park. Buster Posey and Madison Bumgarner were in the spotlight. Only one could come away with a win this time, though.

Bumgarner got the most sustained cheers of the night when he was introduced to Giants fans for the first time since departing two years ago, but Posey reached base five times, scored three runs and had a hand in just about everything the Giants did in an 8-7 walk-off win

Posey homered to pad a big early lead, and after Alex Wood couldn't hold it, he scored from first on Brandon Crawford's double. That looked like it would be the game-winning run, but Jake McGee couldn't hold on. The Giants won in the ninth, though, an inning that included Posey's third walk of the night. 

"It's just kind of the all-around game," manager Gabe Kapler said. "He did everything to help us win tonight. It's nice that we were able to reward him with a victory before going into extra innings."

That win came off Kris Bryant's bat, although Christian Walker's glove was equally responsible. Walker couldn't snag LaMonte Wade Jr.'s liner to start the inning and then booted Bryant's two-out grounder. Wade raced home for the winning run, giving the Giants a 72-41 record. 

They have piled up 13 of those wins in 15 games against the Diamondbacks, with one of the two losses coming at the hands of Bumgarner. It doesn't matter how many times Bumgarner gets the better of his old team during the course of his five-year contract, he's always going to be a hero at Oracle Park, and on Tuesday he was properly honored. 

This was Bumgarner's second trip here as a Diamondback, but the seats were filled with cardboard cutouts when he faced the Giants last September. In the second inning Tuesday, 23,000 stood for a long and loud ovation. They didn't sit until Bumgarner jumped over the dugout rail and waved to all corners of the ballpark that shook around him for so many years. 

Posey said he caught the ovation from the dugout. 

"Obviously Bum did incredible things here and will always be beloved and it's cool to see him get that ovation," Posey said. "There are probably people sitting in the stands that had specific memories of watching him pitch, whether it was with a grandchild or a father they were watching the game with. I think that's what resonates with people about this game so much, is it's a sport that can be shared from generation to generation. That's kind of what I felt when I heard them cheering him tonight."

Posey will one day be on the receiving end of those cheers, but those days seem further away with each at-bat. He's performing as he did in his prime, with Tuesday being the latest example of the resurgence. Posey seems to be enjoying it, too. As he crossed the plate after his 270-foot dash, he looked up at Bryant and said, "I'm so fast."

"That was definitely sarcasm," Posey said. "I was just happy that I made it there. When I saw (Ron Wotus) waving me, I knew it was probably going to be close."

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