Madison Bumgarner has been really good lately. That is to say, Bumbarner has thrown the ball well at the catcher and had batters not hit it a lot. Hope that wasn't broken down too much for you, but the point is, wins are not coming from said outings. It seems as though Matt Cain contacted some shady voodoo company and placed upon MadBum the curse of zero run support in the case of solid pitching. Bumgarner is just 2-7 on the season with a 3.42 earned run average in twelve starts.
Well that sucks, considering that ERA isn't really reflecting that kind of win-to-loss ratio. When you look at his last eight games, that point is emphasized: he's posted a 2.01 ERA in those starts. Well that sucks even more. Bumgarner did get a loss his last time out, allowing just two runs against the Colorado Rockies, only one of them earned. It was his first loss in four starts, and his third loss at home this season. He still hasn't won at AT&T Park this season, he'll need to get it together.
He's up against Johnny Cueto for the Cincinnati Reds, and as to whether or not that's good, it's open to interpretation. Cueto is only 2-2 on the season in six starts, which isn't bad at all, but his two wins came in his first two starts and he's had two losses and two no decisions since then. His last outing was seven innings of two-run ball with five hits against the Los Angeles Dodgers, a no-decision.
Cueto has faced the Giants only once, getting a no-decision after six innings of work, giving up four runs and ten hits. Bumgarner fared significantly worse against the Reds in his first and only outing, giving up eight runs (seven earned) over just 2 2/3 innings. He gave up three home runs in the meeting.