BUMGARNER WINS 10TH AS GIANTS HOLD OFF NATS

S.F. Lefty Wins 9th Straight Decision

SAN FRANCISCO, June 10 (AP) - Madison Bumgarner became the first major league pitcher to win 10 games this season as the San Francisco Giants beat the Washington Nationals 4-2 at AT&T Park.  Bumgarner has now won nine consecutive decisions, extending the longest such streak in the big leagues thus far this year.  Bumgarner hasn't lost since April 11, when San Francisco fell to the Colorado Rockies 4-2 at Coors Field in Denver.  The latest victory, coupled with Cincinnati's 2-0 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers, pulls the Giants to within one game of first place in the National League West.

The Giants took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first off Nationals starter Doug Fister, with Michael Morse delivering the big blow.  Angel Pagan led off with a base hit, but Fister retired Hunter Pence and Buster Posey with Pagan still on first base.  But Pablo Sandoval rolled a single into right, advancing Pagan to third, bringing Morse to the plate with runners on the corners and two outs.  Morse crushed an 0-1 pitch into the seats in left-center field for his ninth home run of the year, putting San Francisco on top 3-0.

Fister held the Giants in check from that point, retiring nine in a row at one stage, before being lifted for a pinch hitter in the seventh, but the three-run first inning would prove devastating to Washington. 

The Nationals threatened periodically against Bumgarner, who was just good enough to retain the lead.  Washington did score a run in the second when Wilson Ramos hit his third home run of the season.  The solo shot cut the deficit to 3-1, and that's where the score remained until the bottom of the seventh when the Giants clipped reliever Aaron Barrett for an insurance run.  Bumgarner started it off with a single and took second on a wild pitch.  Pagan's infield single moved Bumgarner to third and a run scored when Pence rolled into a double play.

Bumgarner entered the eighth having allowed only one run--the Ramos homer--on seven hits, and immediately ran into trouble.  Back-to-back singles to open the frame off the bats of Anthony Rendon and Jayson Werth put runners on the corners with no outs and drew San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy from the dugout.  The Giants had relievers ready, but Bumgarner convinced his skipper to leave him in the game and it paid off when he induced a double play ball from Adam LaRoche.  Rendon scored on the play, cutting the lead to 4-2, but the bases were now empty with two outs and Bumgarner closed out the inning by retiring Ryan Zimmerman on a routine grounder to shortstop Brandon Crawford. 

With closer Sergio Romo unavailable due to recent heavy use, Jean Machi came on in the ninth for the Giants in search of his second save of the season.  Machi retired Ramos and Ian Desmond on infield grounders for the first two outs, but pinch hitter Greg Dobbs dropped a single into left field to bring the tying run to the plate in the form of pinch hitter Nate McLouth.  Machi retired McLouth on a grounder to short to end the game and give the Giants their third win in four contests.

6/10/2014, Was14-SF14, AT&T Park

                       1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9     R  H  E   LOB DP

2014 Nationals         0  1  0  0  0  0  0  1  0     2 10  0     7  1

2014 Giants            3  0  0  0  0  0  1  0  x     4  9  0     6  1

Nationals            AB  R  H BI   AVG    Giants               AB  R  H BI   AVG

Span              cf  4  0  0  0  .292    Pagan             cf  4  1  3  0  .278

Rendon            3b  4  1  3  0  .300    Pence             rf  4  0  1  0  .280

Werth             rf  4  0  2  0  .322    Posey             c   4  0  0  0  .271

LaRoche           1b  4  0  0  0  .235    Sandoval          3b  4  1  1  0  .257

Zimmerman,R       lf  4  0  0  0  .227    Morse             1b  3  1  1  3  .278

Ramos,W           c   4  1  3  1  .242    Blanco,G          lf  2  0  1  0  .255

Desmond           ss  4  0  0  0  .259    Crawford,B        ss  4  0  1  0  .230

Espinosa          2b  3  0  1  0  .234    Hicks,B           2b  3  0  0  0  .128

 Dobbs            ph  1  0  1  0  .129    Bumgarner         p   3  1  1  0  .306

Fister            p   2  0  0  0  .000     Machi            p   0  0  0  0  .000

 Frandsen         ph  1  0  0  0  .255                         31  4  9  3

 Barrett          p   0  0  0  0  .000

 Clippard         p   0  0  0  0  .000

 McLouth          ph  1  0  0  0  .100

                     36  2 10  1

Nationals                        INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA

Fister           L 5-2           6.0  6  3  3  2  4  80  55  1.79

Barrett                          1.0  2  1  1  0  0  14   8  2.20

Clippard                         1.0  1  0  0  0  1  19  11  1.37

                                 8.0  9  4  4  2  5 113  74

Giants                           INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA

Bumgarner        W 10-2          8.0  9  2  2  0  6  90  67  2.83

Machi            S 2             1.0  1  0  0  0  0  15   9  1.19

                                 9.0 10  2  2  0  6 105  76

Was: Frandsen batted for Fister in the 7th

     Dobbs batted for Espinosa in the 9th

     McLouth batted for Clippard in the 9th

3B-Rendon(2). HR-Ramos,W(3), Morse(9). RBI-Ramos,W(13), Morse 3(27).

K-Span 2, Rendon, Werth, Fister, Frandsen, Sandoval 2, Morse, Blanco,G,

Hicks,B. BB-Morse, Blanco,G. SH-Blanco,G. WP-Barrett.

GWRBI: Morse

Temperature: 70, Sky: partly cloudy, Wind: out to center at 5 MPH.

Attendance: 41,699

Game Time: 2:18