How Madison Bumgarner pitched for D-backs in first spring training game

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It's official: Madison Bumgarner has toed the rubber for the Arizona Diamondbacks. The longtime Giants ace made his spring debut in D-backs red on Thursday with a two-inning outing against the Cincinnati Reds. 

Bumgarner retired his first five batters, striking out four, before allowing a solo shot to baseball's biggest biceps, a.k.a. Derek Dietrich. That was the only hit Bumgarner allowed, though. He gave up just the one run over two innings. 

"I felt good -- a lot better than I expected for the first game of spring," Bumgarner said to reporters after the game. "Especially the way it usually goes for me. I was pretty happy with it."

As for that whole "Mason Saunders" thing, Bumgarner wouldn't give in to reporters. 

"Like I said, I felt really good today," Bumgarner said, refusing to acknowledge his rodeo alias. "Everything felt good and I was happy with where it was at."

The Athletic reported Monday that Bumgarner has participated in team-roping competitions under the alias. Former Giants manager Bruce Bochy said he didn't know about that part of Bumgarner's off-field life, but did hint at some Bumgarner bear-hunting stories.

Bumgarner, who won three World Series championship in San Francisco, signed a five-year, $85 million contract with the D-backs this offseason. Despite questions about his velocity going forward, Bumgarner's fastball sat in the low 90s in his spring debut. 

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"Mixed in everything, threw a few more fastballs than I was originally planning," Bumgarner said. "I was planning on kind of mixing it up and seeing where everything was at and what I needed to work on. I actually ended up going out there and the fastball felt pretty good, so I wanted to see exactly where it was at."

The reality is it always will be weird seeing the big left-hander in a D-backs jersey. It will be even weirder when the Giants travel to Arizona at the end of March and likely face Bumgarner for the first time in the regular season.

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