Mercury News
Madison Bumgarner woke up at 7 a.m. Saturday, too antsy about his second career start to keep sleeping.
Those nerves showed early, and Bumgarner and the Giants paid for a pair of mistakes in the first two innings of a 4-2 loss to the Boston Red Sox at AT&T Park.
Darnell McDonald welcomed Bumgarner back to the big leagues by crushing a belt-high fastball into the left-field stands in the first inning, and an inning later Mike Cameron hit a three-run shot to center, again on a fastball over the plate.
Giants manager Bruce Bochy said he thought Bumgarner was "a little hyped up early on," and Bumgarner admitted that his psyche contributed to the poor start.
Once Bumgarner (0-1) finally found his footing, he showed the promise that prompted the Giants to draft him 10th overall in 2007, retiring 16 of the final 17 batters he faced.
The Giants weren't able to capitalize, despite catching a break when Red Sox starter Clay Buchholz was forced from the game with an injury in the second inning.
After picking up his first career hit, Buchholz hyperextended his left knee running the bases. Boston was already without All-Star second baseman Dustin Pedroia, who was placed on the disabled list Saturday after breaking his left foot Friday night.
The Red Sox were so shorthanded that they used No. 2 starter John Lackey as a pinch hitter in the fifth inning, but thanks to the steady bullpen, they kept the Giants at bay.
Scott Atchison, who made 22 appearances for the Giants in 2007, did most of the heavy lifting. Atchison gave up a run and a hit over 21/3 innings to pick up his first win since 2004. The path from the visitors' bullpen to the mound was well-worn by the end of the evening, but San Francisco managed just two runs off seven Red Sox relievers. "You'd like to take advantage of that, but their bullpen bailed them out," Bochy said. "We had a couple of opportunities that we didn't cash in on." San Francisco had runners on the corners with one out in the fourth, and again with no outs in the sixth but came away with just a single run each time. Buster Posey brought both runs home, picking up RBIs on a fielder's choice and a sacrifice fly. Freddy Sanchez pinch-hit for Bumgarner in the seventh and led off with a double. Andres Torres, who is 5 for his past 35, struck out, and Edgar Renteria and Aubrey Huff also failed to bring Sanchez home. Sanchez was the last Giants baserunner of the game, in part because of Cameron. Pablo Sandoval, who had a long single off the right-field wall in the fourth, hit a ball even harder with two outs in the eighth. But Cameron tracked it down in deep center, crashing into the wall to rob Sandoval of extra bases. Jonathan Papelbon set the Giants down in order in the ninth to even the series. While Saturday's battle between young pitchers Bumgarner and Buchholz never quite materialized, today's series finale should keep the focus on the mound. Tim Lincecum (8-2, 2.86 ERA) faces off against Red Sox ace Jon Lester (8-3, 3.03) in a matchup of two pitchers who feast on the opposing leagues. Lincecum is 5-1 lifetime in interleague play, and Lester is 6-2 in 12 career starts against National League clubs.
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