No player did more http://www.dolphinsshopnfl.com/Authentic-Louis-Delmas-Jersey to help his team win Sunday than San Francisco Giants ace Madison Bumgarner. But Zack Greinke of the Los Angeles Dodgers did come close.
Bumgarner and Greinke, already regarded as two of the best pitchers in the National League, showed that they're mighty dangerous at the plate too. Each starting pitcher homered to lead their teams to victory Sunday. Have we mentioned we love pitcher dingers? Because we totally love pitcher dingers.
We'll start with Bumgarner, whose contributions at the plate didn't begin and end with the homer. He actually had an RBI double in the fifth inning before homering in the seventh. It was Bumgarner's fourth homer of the season, the most among MLB pitchers.
On Chris Cook Nike Jerseys the day the Giants honored Hall of Fame pitcher Juan Marichal, left-hander Madison Bumgarner gave San Francisco a performance worthy of the high-kicking Dominican.
Bumgarner homered and doubled, and struck out 14 while pitching a three-hitter as the Giants beat Washington 5-0 Sunday, handing the Nationals their sixth straight loss.
Bumgarner joined Marichal as the only San Francisco pitchers to throw a shutout, strike out at least 10 and hit a home run in the same game.
''It's a pretty big day, he means a lot to the organization,'' Bumgarner said. ''It's really neat for the Giants to bring guys like that back. It's really special.'
Bumgarner (14-6) held the Nats hitless into the fifth inning. The World Series MVP matched his career high for strikeouts while pitching his first shutout of the year and fourth overall in the regular season.
''He did it all. That's an impressive Ego Ferguson Elite Jersey outing with how hot it was,'' Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. ''That was an old-school type game; starter goes nine was fitting. Marichal did it so many times. Bumgarner, that's back-to-back for him.''
Bumgarner has an ERA of 0.71 in the three games since allowing six runs in seven innings to the Texas Rangers. He has 35 strikeouts in 25 1/3 innings during that span.
''You can always do better,'' Bumgarner said. ''But this would be tough to beat . the way things are going for me.''
Bumgarner hit an RBI double early and later connected for his fourth home run of the season and 10th of his career.
The big lefty permitted just three singles, and no runner made it past second base.
The Giants won 5-0 and Bumgarner was immaculate on the mound too. He threw a three-hit shutout, striking out 14 Washington Nationals hitters. Hello, postseason form. The Nats, meanwhile, are a mess and moving further away from the postseason by the day. It was their sixth straight loss, moving the once-World Series favorites a game under .500. Ouch. Need more pitcher dingers, obviously — among other things.
Bumgarner tossed a complete-game shutout while limiting Washington to just three hits. He struck out 14 batters, which tied a season high, and allowed just one walk.
As if it wasn't enough to dominate http://www.jetsnflofficialshop.com/Authentic-Bilal-Powell-Jersey on the mound, Bumgarner showed he needs to be feared with a bat as well. He went 2 for 3 with a double, a home run and two RBI.
With the win, Bumgarner improved to 14-6 on the season with a 2.98 ERA.