SAN DIEGO — These Giants have mastered the art of giving back leads, and Saturday’s meltdown was one of the most shocking yet. It cost Madison Bumgarner his 100th win. It did not, however, cost the Giants a game.
The Giants gave Bumgarner a 6-0 lead and then blew it, with the big lefty doing much of the damage, but they put up three in the top of the 10th to pull away for good. Angel Pagan led off the final rally with a single and cruised into second on Ehire Adrianza’s sac bunt. Kelby Tomlinson lined a single to right, and Pagan was waved home when the ball was bobbled. Denard Span followed with a two-run homer.
Sergio Romo got the final three outs, clinching a 9-6 win that really should have come in regulation. The Giants moved back into a tie for first in the wild card race.
Through the top of the fourth, Bumgarner had two more hits than the Padres. Joe Panik drove in two runs in the first and Angel Pagan added a third as the Giants tied their season-high for first-inning runs. With a little help from the Padres, they put up another three-spot in the fourth.
Bumgarner’s one-out double started the rally and a run scored when Buster Posey grounded to short with the bases loaded and one out. The Padres muffed the play at second, failing to record an out. That meant another run came across when Hunter Pence hit into a fielder’s choice grounder. Eduardo Nuñez capped the scoring with an RBI single.
The Padres’ first hit was a Hunter Renfroe solo shot in the fourth. Renfroe’s first career homer was one of three the Padres hit off Bumgarner. Derek Norris hit a two-run blast in the fifth and Adam Rosales added two more runs with one swing in the sixth.
Bumgarner was taking a fourth crack at his 100th career win, and he left the bullpen in a precarious spot. The lead wouldn’t last a full inning. Manuel Margot singled off Derek Law with a runner on second and two down in the seventh, tying the game.
Starting pitching report: Bumgarner struck out five and finished the night at 246 for the season. He broke Cy Seymour’s 118-year-old franchise record for strikeouts (244) by a left-handed pitcher.
Bullpen report: On his 28th birthday, Hunter Strickland cleaned things up in the eighth. He started Will Myers with a curveball and then threw 11 straight fastballs to get three outs, including two strikeouts. One of the pitches was 97 mph, and the rest came in at 98-99. Strickland got two more outs in the eighth, one via strikeout.
At the plate: Bumgarner smoked a double to the left-center gap in the second inning and pulled one down the line the fourth. The two-double game was the first of his career.
In the field: Nuñez made one of the coolest plays you’ll see from a third baseman. Posey lost sight of a pop-up behind the plate, and Nuñez came flying out of nowhere to make a leaping catch in front of the screen, 110 feet from his position. As Posey and Bumgarner looked at each other and laughed, Nuñez dropped into the net and took a couple of seconds to catch his breath.
Attendance: The Padres announced a crowd of 31,171 human beings who gave Yangervis Solarte a standing ovation when he pinch-hit in the seventh. In his first at-bat since his wife passed away, Solarte singled to left. He pointed to the sky as he touched first.
Up next: Ty Blach makes his first career start.
