2011
In spring training in 2011, Bumgarner led the major leagues in strikeouts, with 31 in 27.1 innings. After his start May 13, 2011 Bumgarner was 0–5 with a 4.58 ERA in his first 7 starts. He struggled in his first two games of the season, but soon after regained his post-season form. However, he was the victim of poor run support and bad luck, a treatment the San Francisco media called his "Caining," a reference to teammate Matt Cain's often dominant performances that featured little to no run support as well. Despite pitching at least six innings and giving up more than one earned run only once in his five starts from April 27 through May 19, it wasn't until the 19th that he got his first win, collecting an ERA of 3.71 for the season at that point. By June 9, Bumgarner had a 1.93 ERA over his last nine starts, yet had two wins and five losses to show for it. In seven of his eight losses at that point, the Giants either only scored once or scored no times at all. On September 5, 2011, Bumgarner struck out a career high 13 batters while yielding 2 earned runs, 7 hits and 1 walk over 8.1 innings while earning the win against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. It was his second consecutive double digit strikeout game, having struck out 11 batters in his previous start against the Chicago Cubs. With his win September 16 Bumgarner had won 5 consecutive starts, and finished the season 13-13 with a 3.21 ERA, 204 innings pitched, and 191 strikeouts. Worth noting, however, is that Bumgarner was 12-1 for the games in which his teammates scored three or more runs for him.
Read more about this topic: Madison Bumgarner, Career, Major Leagues