Madison Bumgarner wasn’t facing the Cincinnati Reds for keeps
Thursday afternoon. Matt Cain’s outing
— three innings under simulated game conditions — was even less
official. The Giants are three weeks away from beginning the actual
defense of their World Series championship, but it’s hard to ignore
the results this spring. Simply put, their pitching staff is
throwing the heck out of the ball.
GOODYEAR, Ariz.
Madison Bumgarner wasn’t facing the Cincinnati Reds for keeps Thursday afternoon. Matt Cain’s outing — three innings under simulated game conditions — was even less official.
The Giants are three weeks away from beginning the actual defense of their World Series championship, but it’s hard to ignore the results this spring. Simply put, their pitching staff is throwing the heck out of the ball.
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“You can’t ask much more than what we saw today,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said.
Bumgarner dominated a lineup of Reds regulars in a 7-0 exhibition victory, holding the NL’s highest scoring team in 2010 to one hit while striking out six in four innings. Bumgarner tied up Joey Votto, the reigning NL MVP, and when he allowed a broken-bat single to Brandon Phillips, the young left-hander promptly picked him off first base.
Bumgarner said he hadn’t forgotten the beating the Reds gave him last August — eight runs in 2 2/3 innings — and he came out with a point to prove.
“I mean, that’s hard to forget,” said Bumgarner, who kept his fastball at the knees while locating his curve and change-up. “I definitely feel good about today. That’s the best I’ve felt all spring.”
The Giants own a 2.80 ERA in 15 spring games, and not only is that the lowest in the major leagues, but it’s downright microscopic in the livelier Cactus League. Among clubs that train in Arizona, the Los Angeles Dodgers are next best in the majors, ranking 12th overall with a 3.98 ERA.
The Giants also lead the majors with 110 strikeouts. Their 8.05 hits per nine innings is the lowest rate in the Cactus League, too.
“They didn’t become fat cats over the winter,” Bochy said. “That’s what I really like. You don’t have to work all spring to get them in shape. They already are.”
Tim Lincecum and Jonathan Sanchez appear far ahead of their usual spring pace, in terms of velocity, location and confidence. Barry Zito has put forth consecutive solid outings after a shaky start.
The only member of the rotation set back has been Cain, and he had positive developments to report, too. He said his inflamed right elbow wasn’t a concern as he threw 47 pitches over three innings back at Scottsdale Stadium.
“It was really nice to go through the routine of sitting down twice and getting back up,” said Cain, who faced Aaron Rowand, Travis Ishikawa and Nate Schierholtz. “I was letting it go without having any fear something would go wrong.”
Bochy said Cain should have plenty of time to build his pitch count and open as his No.”‰3 starter. But Bochy added that he wouldn’t hesitate to tweak the order if anyone is less than 100 percent in the last week of camp.
— Sergio Romo had to admit the truth: Yes, he grooved his first pitch to World Series MVP Edgar Renteria in the eighth inning.
“Yeah, I’m going to say it: I gave him a good pitch to hit,” said Romo, who tipped his cap after Renteria was announced to a standing ovation as the Reds’ pinch hitter. “I smiled and he smiled back. I figured it wouldn’t hurt my career stats too much to give up a home run in that situation. That man, he deserves it.”
Renteria smoked a drive to center field that Darren Ford didn’t allow to drop.
Romo said he’d never concede a grooved pitch to Renteria in the regular season, though.
“It’s incredible, what he brought to our team, not to mention what he did in the postseason,” Romo said. “You’ve got to have a soft spot for that.”
— Andres Torres, Freddy Sanchez and Cody Ross each hit their first home runs of the spring, bunching them in a four-batter span in the third inning against Reds right-hander Bronson Arroyo.
— Rookie Brandon Belt, who must overwhelm club officials to make the opening-day roster, is hitless in his last nine at-bats with five strikeouts.
— Eli Whiteside (inflamed right elbow) made his spring debut behind the plate and caught seven innings with no problems.
— The San Diego Padres will send a motivated Mat Latos to the mound against Lincecum Friday night. Latos, whom the Giants defeated in last year’s regular-season finale to clinch the NL West, made news when he scribbled “I hate SF” on a series of autographed balls that were auctioned for charity.
Several Giants players shrugged when asked about facing Latos.
“Who cares?” Aubrey Huff said. “I’ve got too much dirt in my spikes to get into that (baloney).”
— Story by Andrew Baggarly, San Jose Mercury News
