Madison Bumgarner leads Giants past Cardinals

Andrew Baggarly
Mercury News

Several Giants are experiencing the full flush of a pennant race for the first time, and not all of them are smooth-cheeked rookies.

Madison Bumgarner is the youngest of the lot, just a few weeks past his 21st birthday. But for all the worry over his innings total, his head sure seems to be in the right place.

Bumgarner attacked Albert Pujols as if he were roping a steer on his North Carolina ranch Friday night, losing the final confrontation but winning in the end as the Giants beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-3 at Busch Stadium.

Bumgarner's 97th and final pitch was a fastball that Pujols crushed over the center-field fence to lead off the eighth inning. It was the 32nd home run for the fearsome, three-time NL MVP, but it barely counted as a flesh wound.

That's because Giants already led by five runs, having built their lead with a balanced attack against Jake Westbrook and two relievers.

The home run had no damage on Bumgarner's psyche, either.

"The only mistake I made, he hit it 15 rows deep in center field," the left-hander said. "But you know what? I'm looking forward to facing him again. I'm not going to be afraid or go around him. I'm going to go after him."

Giants manager Bruce Bochy watched with interest. When he managed the Padres, he always sought to learn something about a young pitcher whenever he crossed paths with Barry Bonds.

Pujols might be the closest threat to Bonds in today's game, and Bumgarner didn't back down while retiring him on a pair of fly outs to center field before walking him with a runner aboard in the fifth.

"You want to see how he handles it, and he didn't back off," Bochy said. "There are times you pitch carefully. There is a line you don't want to cross. But I'll say one thing, he's going after him. I'll give Madison credit: He wasn't afraid."

That's a good omen, since the games get only bigger from here. The Giants remained a game behind Philadelphia in the NL wild card picture and moved within five games of the Padres in the NL West.

"I'll try to do the same thing in the playoffs," Bumgarner said. "I want to have that intensity every day now. I want to go out there and be intense, throw strikes and treat every game like a playoff game."

Even with a hot radar gun at Busch Stadium, Bumgarner's velocity seems to be on the rise. He throws every day between starts, but said he's dialed back the intensity. The result is less fatigue, better command and more zip on his pitches.

"I feel it's starting to come around," he said.

The Giants hope the same is true for Pablo Sandoval and Aubrey Huff. Sandoval homered for the second consecutive game; he has four in his last eight contests, after going 47 games without clearing the fence.

And Huff, recharged from a day off, broke out of his slump with a two-run shot. Huff credited Pat Burrell with teaching him a drill in the batting cage that kept him from overstriding.

"That's just another reason he's on this team," Huff said.

Burrell was the only Giants starter who didn't have a hit, but he drew a pair of walks. Freddy Sanchez had his second consecutive two-hit game; so did Buster Posey, who has four doubles in his past nine at-bats.

The Giants seldom have a worry-free night, though. They played thin on the middle infield, with Mike Fontenot starting at shortstop because Juan Uribe was hobbled after fouling a ball off his left foot Thursday night.

Uribe went for X-rays that did not reveal a fracture, but his availability was in question for today. Before the game, Bochy said Sandoval would be his backup shortstop, with Huff moving to third base if needed.

But Fontenot played well on both sides, and it was the Cardinals who were tweaked at the end of the night. Manager Tony La Russa didn't like umpire Gary Cederstrom's strike zone in the ninth inning, when Brian Wilson allowed two hits to bring the tying run to the plate but got Matt Holliday to ground out to end it.

"Major League Baseball can go ahead and fine me, but there were several strikes that a guy as good as Brian Wilson got that he doesn't need," La Russa said. "Who knows how that inning could have gone? That's just not right."

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