Madison Bumgarner Hits Two Home Runs But Giants Still Lose Opener

The 2017 Major League Baseball season got underway with three games on April 2nd, and San Francisco Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner made history. Bumgarner is one of the top starting pitchers in the majors, but he also has some pop in this bat; last year he hit three home runs in 86 at bats and in 214 he hit four homers and drove in 15 runs in 66 at bats. In the Giants opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix, Bumgarner set a major league record by hitting two home runs, the most by any pitcher on an Opening Day.

Bumgarner’s homers, both solo shots, were off starter Zack Greinke and reliever Andrew Chaffin. Bumgarner pitched well, too, taking a perfect game into the sixth inning. He allowed three runs in seven innings and struck out 11 Diamondbacks. The Giants had a one run lead going into the bottom of the ninth, and brought on new closer Mark Melancon to finish it off. San Francisco’s bullpen was the team’s weakness last year, and the club signed Melancon as a free agent for $62 million over four years to help correct the problem. Melancon may well play that role, but in this game he gave up two runs and wound up as the losing pitcher as Arizona came back to win 6-5.