San Francisco pitcher Madison Bumgarner thinks he solved a problem with his mechanics just in time to help the Giants when he gets the ball Thursday for game two of the World Series against Detroit.
“I think we’ve got it fixed,” Bumgarner said Wednesday as the Giants prepared to host the Tigers in game one of Major League Baseball’s best-of-seven championship showdown.
“There’s no way to tell 100 percent until you get out there and get going game speed … But regardless, whether the velocity is up tomorrow or down or whatever, still got to find a way to make pitches and compete, keep us in the game.”
The Giants didn’t secure their World Series berth until Monday night, when they wrapped up a come-from-behind, seven-game victory over last year’s champions, the St. Louis Cardinals, in the National League Championship series.
That left San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy with little time to set his World Series pitching plans.
Bochy also had to choose between Bumgarner, who was 0-2 in his prior two post-season starts, and Tim Lincecum, a star of the Giants’ 2010 World Series triumph who has struggled this season and pitched mostly out of the bullpen.
“I feel good about Madison,” Bochy said Wednesday. “He has done a great job for us since he has been up here, including post-season. This is a small sample on a couple hiccups he had earlier.”
One factor in Bumgarner’s favor, Bochy said, was the 23-year-old’s confidence.
“He’s a guy that doesn’t get his confidence shaken,” Bochy said. “It may not go well, but he still wants to be out there on the mound.”
That’s important, Bochy said, because if Bumgarner isn’t at his best he’ll still need to try to find a way to keep the Tigers at bay.
“When you’re pitching in a major league game, especially when you’re in post-season, you can’t be thinking about mechanics,” Bochy said. “Once you’re out there, that’s the last thing that you can have on your mind because it’s all about having the confidence to get it done and also competing.”
Detroit’s sweep of the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series gave manager Jim Leyland plenty of leisure to organize his pitching.
He’s going with the same rotation he used in the division series against Oakland, which has Doug Fister, a northern California native, pitching in game two.
“Growing up — don’t tell anybody — I was a Giants fan,” Fister said Tuesday.
Although playing in a World Series close to his childhood home gives it “a little bit more special place in my heart,” it won’t affect him on the mound.
“It doesn’t change what we do on the field,” said Fister, who pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings in game one against the Yankees.
Giants' Bumgarner believes he's ready for Tigers
