SAN DIEGO — Even Madison Bumgarner is not immune to the simple fact that pitching is complicated and hard, and the smallest error can lead to a nightmare night.
Bumgarner’s mechanics were off from the start Saturday night and the Padres took full advantage, putting 10 hits and five runs on his line before manager Bruce Bochy pulled the plug after the bottom of the third. Bumgarner said he “got a little side to side” with his mechanics. This was his shortest start since that one-out outing in 2011.
“I was out of my delivery,” he said. “I just wasn’t very effective. I’ve gotta get all that squared away … It shouldn’t be a real difficult fix.”
[INSTANT REPLAY: Bumgarner, Giants roughed up by Padres]
Bumgarner said the mechanical error caused everything to “flatten out.”
“You lose a little bit of sharpness and crispness on pitches,” he said.
For as clean as Bumgarner’s mechanics appear to be most nights, he said fixing a big error once on the mound is something he still has trouble doing.
“At that point, you’re just competing and trying to get outs,” he said.
The Giants don’t need Bumgarner putting extra stress on his arm for a lost cause, so manager Bruce Bochy used a quick hook and turned the night over to Ryan Vogelsong. He credited the right-hander with getting through 3 2/3 innings near the end of the first week of the season. Vogelsong’s ERA took a beating, but he helped make sure Bochy had to use just two relievers on a night his starter recorded only nine outs.
“He did a great job of saving the pen,” Bochy said. “He had to stay out there longer than I’d like but he wanted to, too. He was being a team player and he helped us out.”
--- Casey McGehee wasn’t the only one to get hurt tonight. The injury bug apparently exists in the Triple-A corner of this organization, too. Catcher Andrew Susac took a foul tip off his throwing hand and went for an X-ray. The Giants don’t know much right now, but a scout who was there described it as very loud contact when ball hit fingers.
--- Brandon Crawford and Angel Pagan came out early tonight. That was just Bochy using a blowout to rest two key players.
--- I wasn’t that impressed with the new-look Padres lineup the first two games of this series, but they matched their Petco Park record with 20 hits on Saturday. It was a good crowd, too. This could be a pretty difficult place to play come September.
--- Nori Aoki doesn’t seem to care much for Roberto Kelly’s stop sign at third. One of the Japanese reporters following him joked that two hands up means ‘go’ in Japanese.
--- The defensive breakdowns really got to Bochy tonight. It seemed like every throw into the infield missed the cutoff man. “We have to clean it up a little bit,” Bochy said. “We need to keep the double play in order.”
--- The Giants were pleased that Ehire Adrianza cleared waivers and was able to be sent to Triple-A Sacramento. Adrianza remains the second best defensive shortstop in the organization.
“I wanted (what’s best) for him but since nobody claimed him, that’s good for us,” Bochy said. “It’s more depth at shortstop. He’s a good kid. It allows us to give him more time and develop him as a shortstop. Now we’ve got a Major League shortstop ready if needed.”
I still think there might be something in Adrianza’s bat; he was really starting to have better at-bats before he got hurt last season. Credit the front office for picking the right time to sneak him through waivers.
—- Bumgarner and Clayton Kershaw today: 9 1/3 innings, 20 hits, 10 earned runs. Baseball, man.
