Bumgarner makes History in Opening Day Loss

Baseball season is back at last! Sunday served as Opening Day for six MLB teams including the San Francisco Giants who made it as far as the National League Divisional round last season before falling in a best of five series against the eventual champion Chicago Cubs. And if there was one thing that kept the Giants from making it to the World Series for the fourth time in seven years or in its fourth consecutive even year if you believed in the even year magic, it was the inconsistency of the bullpen which showed its face all too often in 2016. After owning the dubious title of leading the league in blown saves a year ago with a total of 30, Sunday seemed all too familiar for Giants fans.

After leading for most of the game thanks to a bit of small ball and a pair of Madison Bumgarner home runs which we'll get to after the dreadful bullpen, Giants skipper Bruce Bochy saw much of the same in Game 1 of 162, falling to a walk-off loss on the road against the division rival Arizona Diamondbacks. Though Arizona starter Zack Greinke was only able to make it thru the first 5 innings due to a high pitch count, the former AL Cy Young Award winner who has some ownage on the Giants, would be bailed out and no longer on the hook for what appeared to be an imminent loss. With MadBum supplying some offense of his own as well as pitching a gem thru 5 innings and not allowing a single base runner until the bottom of the 6th, the Giants ace who made his fourth consecutive Opening Day start, would hit a rough patch as he surrendered three straight hits to end both his bid for a perfect game and the shutout. Following a 1-out triple by D-Backs catcher Jeff Mathis and a Nick Ahmed single to put Arizona on the board, A.J. Pollock tied the game at 3-3 just three pitches later with a 2-run homer. It would be a deflating inning considering how dominant Bumgarner was pitching before allowing his first hit, striking out 11 D-Backs batters in total, but he wouldn't let it effect him too much as he would more than make up for it during his next at-bat the following inning.

With the Giants back on top in a 4-3 ballgame, Derek Law would take the ball in the bottom of the 8th inning in relief of Bumgarner but would be greeted rather rudely as three straight singles tied the game once again and put an abrupt end to his day. Relievers Ty Blach and Hunter Strickland would limit the damage thanks to a double-play and a ground out to end the frame. Onto the 9th they went where a lead-off triple by Joe Panik who scored on a pinch-hit sac-fly by Conor Cillaspie one batter later, appeared to be the deciding blow. However, the third time would not be a charm this time around as San Francisco's bullpen struggles only continued. While the Giants headed into December's winter meetings with a closer atop their list of needs, they walked away with their guy after throwing what was then a record of $62 Million over 4 years at Mark Melancon. Though it would be a lot of money to invest into one guy, not to mention a reliever, the Giants were in desperate need as the signing received positive reviews among Giants fans who are hoping he'll be the anti-Santiago Casilla for years to come. But while facing his first big test in a San Francisco uniform, things didn't quite go as planned for the 3-time All-Star.

After retiring the first two batters he faced and needing only one more out to complete the save and seal the win, the same guy who ended Bumgarner's bid for perfection, sparked the late rally for Arizona. Jeff Mathis' 2-out double would be followed by three straight singles including the decisive blow off the bat of Chris Owings as the Diamondbacks walked-off to a 6-5 Opening Day victory, spoiling Bumgarner's record-setting day and Melancon's Giants debut as he was tagged with the loss. Defeat is always a bummer but this one stings a bit more because of how the Giants went ahead three different times and had their opponent's back against the wall and needing only one out for the win, but hey, its the first game of many. Let's just pray to the Baseball Gods that this isn't a repeat of the 2016 Giants bullpen. It'll be up to All-Star pitcher Johnny Cueto to get the Giants in the win column as he'll toe the slab in Game 2.

The biggest takeaway from the game would be Giants ace Madison Bumgarner who has proved to be almost as dangerous at the plate as he is on the mound. After making a bid for the Home Run Derby last season before the idea was shot down by Giants manager Bruce Bochy, baseball fans everywhere are already putting his name in the hat in hopes of getting a glimpse of MadBum at this year's Derby after his Opening Day magic which saw him belt a pair of home runs including his second career homer off of Zack Greinke. After becoming the fourth pitcher in Giants franchise history to connect for a home run on Opening Day, Bumgarner did something no other pitcher has done by becoming the first pitcher in MLB history to hit multiple home runs on Opening Day. It would also mark the fifth time a Giant at any position would have a multi-home run game on Opening Day with a guy named Barry Bonds being the last to do so. Following his home run in the fifth inning which tied him for the franchise lead for the most career home runs by a Giants pitcher with 15, Bumgarner separated himself from the rest of the list with another dinger in his very next at-bat for career home run No. 16. Though it won't last too long, how cool is it to say a pitcher (who isn't just any normal pitcher) is currently leading the league in home runs.


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