Daily Rants: Jaime Garcia outduels Madison Bumgarner

Two promising young pitchers went into San Francisco, but Jaime Garcia outperformed Madison Bumgarner to help his team pick up the win and erase the stigma that he is a home only pitcher. How did it all happen? Find out after the jump.

Red hot Rafael Furcal led the game off with a single, which was followed up by a Tyler Green double. Matt Holliday lined out, but Allen Craig hit a ground out that score Furcal. Lance Berkman struck out to end the frame. Jaime Garcia came out of the gate ready to go as he induced two grounders and a strikeout to keep the Giants off the board.

David Freese, Shane Robinson, and Tony Cruz were retired in order, but the Giants failed to capitalize on a Buster Posey leadoff single, so the game stayed at 1-0 after two. Jaime grounded out to start the third, but Furcal hit a single to pick up his second hit of the game. Tyler Greene hit a grounder that erased Furcal on a fielder’s choice. Greene stole second, but Matt Holliday flew out to end the inning. Madison Bumgarner fouled out to start the Giant’s efforts in the third. Emmanuel Burriss hit a single, but Gregor Blanco and Charlie Culberson were retired to erase the threat.

Craig and Berkman each hit grounders to start the fourth with two outs. David Freese hit a single to left center, but was thrown out trying to stretch it into two bags. In the bottom of the fourth, Angel Pagan flew out to lead things off. Posey hit a double to record his second hit and advanced to third on a wild pitch. He was left on base, though, as Brett Pill and Nate Schierholtz struck out to end the inning.

The fifth inning was uneventful offensively, as Robinson, Cruz, and Garcia were retired in order for the Cardinals and Brandon Crawford, Bumgarner, and Burriss went down swinging for the Giants. Furcal started off the sixth for the Cardinals with a groundout and was followed by a Tyler Greene foul out and Matt Holliday pop fly. The Giants started the sixth down 1-0. Gregor Blanco reached base on a bunt single and was sacrificed over to second on a Culberson bunt. Angel Pagan hit a single that moved Blanco to third. Blanco finally scored on a Posey single to center. Brett Pill hit a double play to end the inning, but the Giants tied the game at one.

Craig and Berkman hit ground outs to lead off the seventh, but David Freese hit a home run to break the tie and break out of his slump. Shane Robinson flew out to end the inning. In the bottom of the seventh, Schierholtz and Crawford were retired, but Bumgarner hit a single to try to help his own cause. It was all for naught, though, as Burriss hit a grounder to end the threat.

Tony Cruz hit a groundout to start off the eighth inning. He was followed by a Jaime single and a Rafael Furcal double, which was his third hit of the game. Bumgarner was relieved by Steve Edlefse, who faced a pinch hitting Skip Schumaker. Schumaker hit a double to score Garcia and Furcal and give the Cardinals some insurance runs. Holliday and Craig grounded out to end the frame with the Cardinals up 4-1. Jaime struck out Gregor Blanco, but gave up back to back single to Culberson and Pagan. Fernando Salas came in to face Posey. He induced a pop up, which led to Marc Rzepczynski coming in to face Melky Cabrera. Cabrera grounded out to end the threat.

Berkman hit a grounder to lead off the ninth. He was followed by a Freese double and consecutive ground outs by Robinson and Cruz. Jason Motte came in to get the save for the Cardinals. He gave up a single to Schierholtz and struck out Brandon Crawford. Aubrey Huff came in to pinch hit, but flew out to left field. Motte then struck out Burriss to record the save and pick up the Cardinals 22nd win of the season.

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