Madison Bumgarner made his return to games that matter last night, allowing two runs on eight hits with three strikeouts and issuing no walks over six innings against the Diamondbacks.
He lost, but for that you can blame Patrick Corbin who held the Giants to one run while he was in the game. Or blame the Giants who missed a good many scoring chances and then saw their would-be ninth inning rally peter out a run short. It happens. No man is an island in baseball. Not even the starter.
The loss notwithstanding, the Giants have to feel pretty good about getting Bumgarner back. Despite having only two minor league rehab appearances, their ace did not look like he was rusty, throwing 82 pitches, 58 of which were strikes.
Next up for Bumgarner will be the Marlins on Monday. Gotta like his odds to get in the win column there.