Bumgarner blasts 445-foot HR in spring game
Giants ace also shuts down Rockies for six innings of one-hit ball
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- As usual, Madison Bumgarner applied the proper perspective to the afternoon's events, which in this case was the Giants' 13-0 Cactus League shellacking of the Colorado Rockies on Sunday.
Bumgarner delivered one of his familiar tour de force performances that few other contemporary pitchers are capable of recording. The left-hander not only surrendered one hit in six innings but also clobbered a seventh-inning home run -- which traveled a projected 445 feet, per Statcast™ -- off Colorado reliever Bryan Shaw. It was among four homers the Giants amassed against the Rockies, one of three National League West teams to reach last year's postseason while precipitating San Francisco's fall to a 64-98 mark.
Following his multifaceted excellence, Bumgarner displayed the excitement of a man who had just emptied the trash.
"I'm not going to fool myself into thinking that this was a regular-season game," said Bumgarner, who will start San Francisco's 2018 opener on March 29 at the Dodgers. "You can't, because in the back of your mind you know that this is Spring Training and you're here to work on stuff."
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Bumgarner had nothing in particular to refine against the Rockies.
"We didn't have any one thing to work on today," he said after becoming the first Giant to last six innings this spring. "We just worked on a little bit of everything. Sometimes, there wasn't a lot of rhyme or reason. We just made sure to throw everything in every spot."
Bumgarner, who leads all active Major League pitchers with 17 home runs, reacted to his round-tripper with similar aplomb.
"I wouldn't read too much into it," he said. "It doesn't count."
Yet given the Rockies' stature and the fact their lineup featured most of their regulars, the Giants could derive satisfaction from looking more like a complete ballclub.
"When you're facing a lineup like the Rockies, it's pretty solid all the way through," Bumgarner said. "It keeps you on your toes."
The Giants were knocked on their heels Saturday, when they dropped a pair of split-squad games, including an 8-3 decision to Oakland in which they coughed up four unearned runs.
This time, San Francisco out-hit Colorado, 18-3, as veteran newcomers Andrew McCutchen and Evan Longoria combined for five hits.
"It's good to bounce back and play a clean game," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said.
Bumgarner was cleanest of all, throwing 49 strikes in 77 pitches.
"He looked pretty incredible," left fielder Hunter Pence said. "He was just being Bum, competing."
In 19 innings, spanning five exhibition starts, Bumgarner has allowed 15 hits, walked three and struck out 27.
"He's pretty much what I expected," McCutchen said. "I'm just happy he's my teammate."