San Francisco Giants: Madison Bumgarner Makes History with Homers on Opening Day
Although the San Francisco Giants ended up on the losing side of Opening Day, Madison Bumgarner set himself apart with a pair of home runs.
On Sunday, Madison Bumgarner led the San Francisco Giants through a strong seven-inning start against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. He began his outing with 5.1 perfect innings and finished with six hits allowed, three runs and 11 strikeouts.
We’ve seen Bumgarner dominate on the mound throughout his career, but no one has seen what he did at the plate.
After coaxing a walk in the second inning, Bumgarner took Zack Greinke deep in the fifth. Two innings later, he hit himself into the history books with his second home run of the game, becoming the first pitcher ever to hit two home runs on Opening Day.
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Bumgarner’s first home run set a
for the hardest hit home run by a pitcher, with an exit velocity of 112.5 mph. He joins
Clayton Kershawas the only two pitchers to homer on Opening Day since 1992.
With his second home run, Bumgarner stands alone as a Giant and in the major leagues. On top of leading major league pitchers in home runs, Bumgarner passed Johnny Antonelli and Hal Schumacher on the Giants’ all-time home run by pitchers list with 16 in his career.
Along with Mike Hampton, Jim Kaat, Schoolboy Rowe and Jim Tobin, Bumgarner is 15th all-time for home runs by pitchers. Wes Ferrell, who smacked 38 home runs in 15 seasons, stands atop that list.
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If Bumgarner can continue to average four home runs per season, which he has since 2014, he will overpass Ferrell by his 15th season in the major leagues.