The good news for the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday was that their bullpen threw 8 2/3 innings of one run ball. The bad news was that the bullpen work was necessary because the Minnesota Twins lit up starter Madison Bumgarner to the tune of eight runs in 1/3 of an inning as the Giants lost 9-2. The start was the worst of Bumgarner’s short career, exceeding his August 25, 2010 start in which he gave up eight runs over 2 2/3 innings.
The Twins got the scoring going early before many fans had sat down, let alone bought their first beer. Ben Revere led off the first with a single followed by an Alex Casilla double. Three singles and three doubles later it was 6-0 and still nobody out. After Bumgarner struck out pitcher Carl Pavano, Ben Revere came back up and doubled in the seventh and eighth runs of the game.
The Giants added two runs on an Eli Whiteside home run and an Emmanuel Burriss single, but the deficit was too big for them. The loss dropped the Giants to 1/2 game back of the Arizona Diamondbacks who beat the Royals 7-2.
The Giants and Twins head back out Wednesday night at 7:00pm on CSN Bay Area. Ryan Vogelsong will be pitching for his fifth win as he faces Nick Blackburn.