Despite 'nothing' working, Bumgarner gets 'creative'

PHOENIX -- Madison Bumgarner used one word to succinctly sum up what was working for him Wednesday afternoon: "Nothing."

In fact, the D-backs' left-hander was so frustrated by the consistent base traffic the Braves were generating that he thought about expediting the process.

"There were a couple times it crossed my mind just to turn around and throw it in the gap and save time, start the inning off with a runner on second," Bumgarner said. "Because that's what we ended up doing anyway."

Sounds like a pitcher who had a terrible outing, right? Here's the thing -- Bumgarner actually posted one of his best lines of the season in Arizona's 6-0 loss at Chase Field. He held Atlanta to two runs over six innings and struck out six, consistently finding ways to work out of jams that were created by his seven hits and two walks allowed.

That's how critical Bumgarner is of himself. And it's a big reason why he's had sustained success over his 14-year big league career.

Bumgarner is also a master of making adjustments, which is why he's been throwing his cutter more often than he did in any prior season. Entering Wednesday, he was using the pitch 45 percent of the time.

But the Braves had little trouble against the pitch. Of Bumgarner's 32 cutters, they whiffed only three times and put 11 in play, including each of their first five hits, all of which came during the first three innings. Among them were William Contreras' RBI double in the first and Michael Harris II's RBI double in the second.

"He loves to throw that cutter and he can change speeds on it, throw it anywhere at any time on any count," D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said. "But unfortunately, it wasn't a great pitch for him today."

So Bumgarner leaned heavily on his other offerings to limit damage as Atlanta had a runner in scoring position in each of the first four innings and put a man on base in each of the first five. While throwing his cutter only 31 percent of the time, Bumgarner hurled 30 four-seam fastballs (29%), 26 curveballs (25%) and 15 changeups (15%).

"[The cutter] wasn't as good as it probably has been, but nothing else was either," Bumgarner said. "I was just trying to do what I could to get outs and keep us in the game."

Bumgarner has done just that for much of 2022, especially during his hot start in April. Although he didn't complete more than five innings in any of his five outings during the opening month -- he was building up his pitch count early after a shortened Spring Training and also dealt with a non-COVID-related illness -- he posted a 1.17 ERA.

In May, Bumgarner added more length, completing six or more innings three times in five starts. But his results weren't quite as sharp, pitching to a 5.33 ERA. He also gave up seven home runs after yielding only two in April.

So while Bumgarner may not have been pleased with his command -- or really anything else -- it was encouraging for Arizona that he opened June with his second quality start of the season and his first since May 10.

"He just gets creative," Lovullo said. "He's got a great feel for the strike zone. He's a strike-thrower and he's a pitch-maker and he's got guts. And he's going to stand up there and he's going to force you to beat him. He did a great job in keeping it at two [runs]."

The D-backs dropped the finale vs. the Braves because they mustered only three hits while getting shut out for the fifth time this season. However, they still won the series after taking the first two against the defending World Series champions.

Now, Arizona embarks on a three-city, 10-game road trip against three teams currently in the bottom half of the National League standings -- Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Philadelphia. It's an opportunity for the D-backs to potentially rack up some wins, especially if they pitch well against some fledgling lineups.

They know what they can count on getting from Bumgarner -- and Lovullo wants to see other starters pick up on the veteran's ability to work through these tougher starts.

"It's who he is. It doesn't surprise me at all. He's done that so many times before," Lovullo said. "A lot of pitchers need to learn from that, where you're probably at the end of your rope and you get that last out and walk in the dugout and give yourself a chance to win the game.

"That's what Madison Bumgarner's all about."