Madison Bumgarner throws 94 pitch shutout against New York Mets
By Hayden Kane
Another day, and another “Maddux” within one week of Greg Maddux‘s induction into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.
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A “Maddux,” for those who are wondering, is a complete game shutout that requires less than 100 pitches. Over the course of his long career with the Chicago Cubs and Atlanta Braves, the precisely efficient Maddux so mastered that art that the accomplishment was unofficially named after him.
Earlier this week Corey Kluber pulled off that feat in a ridiculously dominant performance over the Seattle Mariners. On Sunday Madison Bumgarner joined him with a ‘Maddux’ of his own, chucking a 94 pitch complete game shutout against the New York Mets.
The lefty’s final line is obviously impressive: 9 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, and 10 Ks. While he does not officially add his name to the list of guys to have either a perfect game or a no-hitter, he clearly had that kind of stuff in this game as the Mets’ lineup was left helpless all day.
As Chris Haft of MLB.com notes, this was the third day in a row that Giants’ pitching was dominant against New York:
"Preceded in this series by Ryan Vogelsong‘s two-hitter Friday and Jake Peavy‘s 6 1/3 perfect innings Saturday, Bumgarner sustained that pattern. He recorded his second career shutout and surrendered two hits, Wilmer Flores‘ third-inning leadoff double and David Wright‘s seventh-inning single. Bumgarner issued only one walk — to Curtis Granderson, the first hitter he faced — and threw just 94 pitches, 75 for strikes."
A loss on Saturday night kept the Giants from completing the sweep, but this series victory still provides a potential launching point for them as they try to prevent the Los Angeles Dodgers from running away with the division. If Bumgarner and the rest of the rotation can keep this up, they will have a decent chance of doing just that.