San Francisco Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner had an incredible Sunday against the Washington Nationals.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau (h/t ESPN Stats & Information), he joined Hall of Famer Early Wynn (1959) as one of just two players in the modern era to hit a home run, record a complete-game shutout and strike out 14 batters in the same game.
In addition to his 14 strikeouts, the lefty allowed just three hits and a lone walk, needing 112 pitches to make it through the full nine innings in a 5-0 Giants victory.
San Francisco’s batters provided a 3-0 lead by the end of the fourth inning, but it was Bumgarner who knocked in the insurance runs—first with an RBI double in the fifth inning, then with a solo home run in the seventh.
Despite his 20 strikeouts in 53 at-bats, the 26-year-old lefty owns a solid .245/.273/.491 batting line for the season, thanks mostly to his four home runs.
He also hit four homers last year, with his eight since the beginning of 2014 putting him five ahead of any other pitcher, per ESPN Stats & Info.
Bumgarner‘s all-or-nothing approach at the plate may be highly unusual for his position, but its effectiveness can no longer be questioned.
More importantly for the Giants, he owns a 14-6 record, 2.98 ERA and 1.03 WHIP for the season, with a 174-27 strikeout-to-walk ratio through 163.1 innings.
Those numbers would make him a top contender for a Cy Young Award in many seasons, but he may have trouble drawing consideration as part of an unusually loaded National League field.
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