SAN FRANCISCO — Just before the All-Star break, Giants coaches sat down and mapped out their second-half rotation. They have known for months that they could push Madison Bumgarner back to this final series if it gave them a leg up in the NL West race.
This team, of course, is nowhere near contention. It's been that way for a while. But the Giants still pushed Bumgarner back two days, giving him a big stage for his final start of the season and the opportunity to all but knock the Dodgers out of contention in the division.
That the offense didn't deliver was no surprise. But it was a bit when Bumgarner made it through just six, allowing three runs, and two coming on a big Justin Turner homer with a runner on and the game tied. This, a 3-1 loss, was not the way he hoped to end his 2018 season.
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Bumgarner’s year started with perhaps the sharpest spring of his career. A line drive back to the mound shattered dreams of a career season, and in 21 starts, he posted a 3.26 ERA and 1.24 WHIP. Bumgarner went 6-7, striking out 109 and walking 43 in 129 2/3 innings. He said he was mostly happy with the season.
"There are a few starts in September I would like to be able to go back and do again, but you can't do that," he said. "But I dunno ... I'd like to have a full one (complete game)."
For the first time since 2013, Bumgarner will head home for the winter without a complete game. He had a run of three consecutive seasons where he threw four of them, but times have changed.
Bumgarner’s numbers are still good, and for the most part he still looks the part of an ace. But there are occasionally chinks in the armor. He has had a diminished strikeout rate in his second straight injury-marred season and has not consistently gotten as deep into games as he used to.
San Francisco Giants
Still, his reputation was built on big games, and he hasn’t pitched in one since the 2016 postseason. That’s why this night stood as a disappointment.
The Rockies did their part, beating the Nationals earlier in the night to set the stage for Bumgarner, who could have nudged the Dodgers two games out with two to play. Bumgarner had just two clean innings out of six, allowing three earned on seven hits and a walk.
His biggest mistake was jarring.
With a runner on and one out in the sixth, he threw Turner a fastball that came in at just 90 mph and cut right through the center of the plate. Turner blasted it to left-center, breaking a tie as Bumgarner turned slowly and watched the ball soar. Bumgarner was trying to throw a fastball up-and-in, a pitch he has had a lot of success with against Turner.
"It didn't get in as much as I would like," he said. "I've thrown him that pitch quite a few times. He's a good hitter, made an adjustment and got to it."
An inning later, Bumgarner was off to the winter, and this will not be the type of postseason any star wants to deal with. There’s no way around it. Bumgarner, with one year left on his deal, is a struggling organization’s best trade chip, and perhaps the best pitching option available to contenders this offseason. The Giants do not want to trade Bumgarner, and he does not want to go, but the new head of baseball operations may walk through the door, look at a roster that was embarrassingly outmanned Friday, and determine that it’s the only way forward.
Bumgarner said he gave no thought to the possibility of this being his last game in orange and black. His manager said the same.
"Not at all," Bruce Bochy said. "He's signed through next year. That's how I look at it, that he's going to be here next year and hopefully longer."