2014 San Francisco Giants: Bumgarner

2014 San Francisco Giants: Bumgarner

[paypal_donation_button]2014 San Francisco Giants: Bumgarner

The San Francisco Giants are credited for having one of the most unique 5-year runs in Major League Baseball history. They won the World Series in 2010 and 2012 while falling short in 2011 and 2013. 2014 looked to be a mixed bag for the Giants, up until the end of the regular season when the team pieced everything together just in time to secure a Wild Card spot. The Giants went 88-74 in 2014, finishing in 2nd place in the National League West division, finishing 6 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Giants went 9-10 against the Dodgers in head-to-head play.

Catcher Buster Posey batted .311 with 22 home runs and 89 RBI’s off 170 hits and 28 doubles. Second baseman Joe Panik batted .305 with 82 hits and 10 doubles in 73 games. Center fielder Angel Pagan batted .300 with 115 hits, 21 doubles and 16 stolen bases in 96 games. Third baseman Pablo Sandoval, nicknamed the “Kung Fu Panda”, batted .279 with 16 home runs and 73 RBI’s off 164 hits and 26 doubles. Left fielder Mike Morse batted .279 with 16 home runs and 61 RBI’s off 122 hits and 32 doubles.

Right fielder Hunter Pence batted .277 with 20 home runs and 74 RBI’s off 180 hits, 29 doubles, 10 triples and 13 stolen bases. Shortstop Brandon Crawford had 10 home runs and 69 RBI’s off 121 hits, 20 doubles, 10 triples and 5 stolen bases. First baseman Brandon Belt had 12 home runs in 61 games. Outfielder Gregor Blanco had 102 hits, 18 doubles, 6 triples and 16 stolen bases in 146 games.

Finally having his breakout season, Madison Bumgarner was by far one of the most dominant starting pitchers in all of baseball in 2014. He went 18-10 with 219 strikeouts and 2.98 ERA, recording 4 complete games and 2 shutouts. Tim Lincecum went 12-9 with 134 strikeouts, recording 1 complete game and 1 shutout. Jake Peavy went 6-4 with a 2.17 ERA. Tim Hudson had 120 strikeouts, a 3.57 ERA and 1 complete game despite going 9-13. Ryan Vogelsong had 151 strikeouts, a 4.00 ERA and 1 complete game despite going 8-13.

Sergio Romo was the definitive closer for the Giants as he went 6-4 with 23 saves and a 3.72 ERA. Relief pitcher Jean Machi went 7-1 with 2 saves and a 2.58 ERA. Jeremy Affeldt went 4-2 with a 2.28 ERA. Javier Lopez posted a 3.11 ERA and J.C. Guiterrez posted a 3.96 ERA.

The Giants went to PNC Park to play the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Wild Card Game on October 1, and the Giants completely silenced the Pirates and their fans with an 8-0 shutout victory. Madison Bumgarner pitched a complete game, giving up 4 hits and 1 walk but recording 10 strikeouts. Brandon Crawford gave the Giants a thunderous start by blasting a grand slam home run in the top of the 4th inning. Brandon Belt had an infield RBI single in the top of the 6th, and then had a 2-run single in the top of the 7th. Buster Posey had an RBI single in the top of the 8th.

The Giants then took care of the Washington Nationals in the National League Division Series, winning 3 games to 1. The Giants won 3-2 in Game 1 on October 3 at Nationals Park. Joe Panik had an RBI single in the top of the 3rd inning, and then Belt had an RBI single in the top of the 4th. Posey had an infield RBI single in the top of the 7th. Solo home runs hit by right fielder Bryce Harper and second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera were not enough for Washington.

The Giants then won 2-1 in Game 2 on October 4. Third baseman Anthony Rendon had an RBI single in the bottom of the 3rd inning. Fast forward to the top of the 9th, and Pablo Sandoval’s bat showed up with an RBI double. Fast forward again all the way to the top of the 18th, and Belt would ht a solo home run to finally win it for the Giants. Game 2 lasted 6 hours and 23 minutes.

Back at AT&T Park for Game 3 on October 6, the Nationals beat the Giants 4-1. Catcher Wilson Ramos reached on an error after a bunt, which scored both shortstop Ian Desmond and Harper. Cabrera followed with an RBI single. In the top of the 9th Harper hit a solo home run, and Crawford’s sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 9th wasn’t enough.

With a 3-2 victory in Game 4 on October 7, the Giants closed out the Nationals. Gregor Blanco drew a bases loaded walk to score Crawford in the bottom of the 2nd inning, and Panik followed with an RBI groundout. Bryce Harper was the only offensive spark for Washington as he had an RBI double in the top of the 5th and hit a solo home run in the top of the 7th. In the bottom of the 7th Panik scored on a wild pitch which allowed the Giants to move on.

The Giants then got reacquainted with the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Championship Series, but this time the Giants took care of the Cardinals earlier, winning the series 4 games to 1. In Game 1 on October 11 at Busch Stadium III the Giants shut out the Cardinals 3-0. Madison Bumgarner pitched 7.2 innings and gave up 4 hits and 1 walk while recording 7 strikeouts. Travis Ishikawa had an infield RBI single in the top of the 2nd inning, and Blanco followed by reaching on an error to score Hunter Pence. Barndon Belt had a sacrifice fly in the top of the 3rd.

The Cardinals won Game 2 on October 12 by the score of 5-4. Third baseman Matt Carpenter hit a solo home run in the bottom of the 3rd inning, and then right fielder Randall Grichuk had an RBI single. Pinch hitter Jaoquin Arias had an RBI groundout in the top of the 5th, Pence had an RBI single in the top of the 6th and Blanco had an RBI single in the top of the 7th, but pinch hitter Oscar Taveras hit a solo home run in the bottom of the 7th to start a St. Louis rally. First baseman Matt Adams hit a solo home run in the bottom of the 8th, and after Matt Duffy scored on a wild pitch in the top of the 9th, second baseman Kolten Wong hit a game-winning solo home run in the bottom of the 9th.

2 weeks later on October 26, Oscar Taveras tragically lost his life in a car accident in the Dominican Republic. All of Major League Baseball would mourn the loss of Taveras.

Returning to AT&T Park for Game 3 on October 14, the Giants won 5-4. In the bottom of the 1st inning Pence had an RBI double, and Ishikawa had a 3-run double. Wong had a 2-run triple in the top of the 4th, and shortstop Jhonny Peralta had an RBI single in the top of the 6th. After Grichuk’s solo home run in the top of the 7th, it would take a bunt by Gregor Blanco and him reaching on an error to score the winning, which was Brandon Crawford.

In Game 4 on October 15 the Giants won 6-4. Adams had an RBI single in the top of the 1st, and Posey had a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 1st. In the top of the 2nd catcher A.J. Pierzynski had an RBI single, and Peralta grounded into a double play in the top of the 3rd to score Matt Holliday. Wong then followed with a solo home run. In the bottom of the 3rd Posety and Pence had RBI singles, and then in the bottom of the 6th Blanco grounded into a fielder’s choice to score left fielder Juan Perez. Panik had an RBI groundout and Posey then had an RBI single.

The Giants put the Cardinals away with a 6-3 win in Game 5 on October 16. Jon Jay had an RBI double in the top of the 3rd, but Panik responded with a solo home run in the bottom of the 3rd. Matt Adams and catcher Tony Cruz both hit solo home runs in the top of the 4th, but pinch hitter Mike Morse hit a solo home run in the bottom of the 8th, and then Travis Ishikawa blasted a game-winning 3-run home run in the bottom of the 9th.

The 2014 World Series between the San Francisco Giants and the American League Champion Kansas City Royals proved to be a classic encounter as it took all 7 games to determine who would be World Champions. In Game 1 on October 21 at Kaufman Stadium the Giants won 7-1. Madison Bumgarner pitched 7 innings and gave up 3 hits, 1 walk and 1 run, but recorded 5 strikeouts. In the top of the 1st Pablo Sandoval had an RBI double, and Hunter Pence followed with a 2-run home run. In the top of the 4th Mike Morse as the designated hitter had an RBI single, and then Blanco drew a bases loaded walk to score Brandon Belt. Panik had an RBI triple and Sandoval had an RBI single in the top of the 7th. Catcher Salvador Perez’s solo home run in the bottom of the 7th was meaningless.

The Giants would suffer a pair of losses to the Royals as they lost Game 2 on October 22 by the score of 7-2, and then they lost Game 3 at AT&T Park on October 24 by the score of 3-2.

In Game 4 on October 25 the Giants came back to even the World Series at 2 games apiece by the score of 11-4. Pence had an RBI groundout in the bottom of the 1st, and Kansas City did respond with RBI singles by first baseman Eric Hosmer, second baseman Omar Infante and Perez in the top of the 3rd. In the bottom of the 3rd Posey had an RBI single, and after Pence’s RBI single in the bottom of the 5th, Juan Perez followed with a sacrifice fly. Sandoval and Belt then had RBI singles in the bottom of the 6th. In the bottom of the 7th Blanco had a bunt RBI single, and a pair of doubles by Panik and Pence followed.

In Game 5 on October 26 the Giants blanked the Royals 5-0. Madison Bumgarner once again dominated, pitching a complete game and giving up only 4 hits while recording 8 strikeouts. Brandon Crawford had an RBI groundout in the bottom of the 2nd, and then came back in the bottom of the 5th to have an RBI single. In the bottom of the 8th Juan Perez had an RBI double, and Crawford followed with another RBI single.

The Royals then crushed the Giants in a 10-0 shutout win in Game 6 on October 28. However, in the deciding Game 7 on October 29, the Giants pulled out a 3-2 win behind the pitcher who basically dominated the entire postseason. Madison Bumgarner came off just 3 days rest to pitch 5 innings in relief, and he only gave up 2 hits, recording 4 strikeouts and the save. In the top of the 2nd Mike Morse and Brandon Crawford had sacrifice flies, and in the bottom of the 2nd Alex Gordon had an RBI double and Omar Infante had a sacrifice fly to tie the game. Morse’s RBI single in the top of the 4th was all that the Giants needed to complete a rare feat, which was to win 3 World Series championships in 5 years.

Being named the Most Valuable Player for both the NLCS and the World Series, Madison Bumgarner firmly established himself as one of the best pitchers in postseason baseball history.