Giants overcome injury to Bumgarner, beat Cardinals 8-4
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The swelling near Madison Bumgarner's pitching elbow was still noticeable, more than three hours after the Giants' left-hander was drilled by a 98 mph line drive.
"It looks nasty, but as far as what it feels like, it never tightened up, it never got sore," said Bumgarner, who wore a long grey therapeutic sleeve after the game. "It feels swollen, that's it. It's good though."
Austin Slater hit a pinch-hit grand slam, San Francisco overcame Bumgarner's early injury and the surging Giants held on to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 8-4 on Saturday night.
Bumgarner suffered an elbow contusion and was knocked out of the game shortly after getting hit near his pitching elbow by the sharp line drive off the bat of José Martínez in the first inning. San Francisco's ace initially stayed in the game and wore a black protective sleeve on his left arm when batting in the second.
After multiple discussions with manager Bruce Bochy and trainer Dave Groeschner on the mound and in the dugout, Bumgarner agreed to come out of the game, but went to the mound in the third in order to give reliever Sam Dyson time to warm up.
"It got him really good," Bochy said. "You know Madison and how tough he is. He didn't wave us off, so I knew it got him pretty good. When he swung the bat he could really feel it. We got a break. X-rays were negative and he should be fine to go after the (All-Star) break."
Bumgarner considered himself fortunate.
"As close as we are and facing the type of hitters we are, it's going to happen," he said. "You hope that it doesn't and some guys are fortunate enough for it not to, but the law of averages says sometimes you're going to get a ball back up the middle."
Bumgarner wasn't the only one on the field who got hurt by a batted ball. Home plate umpire Mike Everitt left the game after taking a sharp foul ball off his mask in the sixth inning, causing a 10-minute delay. Everitt was taken out of a game June 4 in Washington when he was hit in the chest by a pitch.
Lance Barrett, who had been working second base, replaced Everitt behind the plate and three umpires finished the game.
According to a Giants official, Everitt was still being examined when the game ended and his status was uncertain.
Pablo Sandoval homered and drove in three runs as San Francisco won for the sixth time in eight games. Kevin Pillar added two hits.
Dyson (3-1), the second of six San Francisco pitchers, retired six batters to earn the win.
Paul Goldschmidt hit his 16th home run for St. Louis.
Slater, batting in the pitcher's spot in the fourth, helped San Francisco overcome the loss of Bumgarner with his first career grand slam.
It came one batter after an error by Cardinals left fielder Tyler O'Neill loaded the bases. O'Neill settled in under Joe Panik's fly ball but pulled off at the last second and let the ball drop, as he looked toward center fielder Dexter Fowler.
"I thought I heard Dex call me out," O'Neill said. "That wasn't the case and the ball dropped unfortunately. It's a tough sky out there. A little windy but there's no excuses for it. That ball's got to be caught."
Sandoval had a sacrifice fly in the first and a two-run home run in the seventh.
Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas (5-9) allowed five runs (four earned) in four innings.
GOLDY'S HOME AWAY FROM HOME
Goldschmidt's home run was his second in two days at Oracle Park and the 13th of his career at the Giants' waterfront ballpark, the most by any opposing player.
FREAKISH NUMBERS
Before he was removed from the game, Bumgarner struck out two batters, giving him 1,706 for his career. That's the second-most by a Giants pitcher in the San Francisco era. Juan Marichal tops the list with 2,281.
TRAINERS ROOM
Cardinals: Yadier Molina singled as a pinch-hitter in the ninth after being held out of the starting lineup again because of a sore right thumb. "It's a tolerance issue right now, something we just want to be smart about," manager Mike Shildt said. ... Matt Carpenter resumed baseball activities, including swinging a bat. Carpenter has been out since June 29 due to a lower back strain. ... 2B Kolten Wong came out of the game due to left calf tightness.
UP NEXT
Cardinals RHP Jack Flaherty (4-5 4.90 ERA) is winless and has an 11.37 ERA in two career starts against the Giants. San Francisco RHP Jeff Samardzija (5-7, 4.32) has never beaten St. Louis in three career starts at Oracle Park.
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