The San Francisco Giants pitching staff has performed much better in the second half. Giants general manager Farhan Zaidi anointed this pitching rotation, “…the best rotation in baseball,” and they’ve proved him right. Blake Snell took the mound on August 2nd and delivered a special performance. Snell threw his first career no-hitter and the 18th in Giants history. The game before that Logan Webb threw a complete game shutout against the Oakland A’s. That was the first time two Giants pitchers threw back-to-back complete game shutouts since 2002 when Livian Hernandez and Jason Schmidt did it. In the wake of these elite performances, let’s discuss the five best Giants pitching performances in the last 15 years.
The Giants’ Five Best Pitching Performances Of the last 15 years
5. Blake Snell’s No-Hitter
Blake Snell put on a show for Giants fans at Great American Ball Park. Snell dominated the Reds striking out 11 batters and generating 21 swings and misses. Snell was incredible everything was working for him on that day. Snell started almost every single at-bat ahead in the count as his first pitch strike percentage for the game was 86% the highest percentage he’s had all season. It was a special night for Snell as it was his first no-hitter and his first complete game in his career. Snell delivered the best game of his career and did it in a Giants uniform.
4. Madison Bumgarner’s Game 7 Of The World Series
On October 29th, 2014, Madison Bumgarner in the bottom of the fifth came out of the bullpen for the Giants. On two days of rest, he marched out of the bullpen and delivered one of the most memorable pitching performances in Giants history. He shut down the Royals for five straight innings, striking out four and only giving up two hits. Bumgarner dominated the Royals in Game 7 of the World Series, one of the most high-pressure moments, and yet Bumgarner was calm.
A quote from catcher Buster Posey revealed how Bumgarner affected the crowd at Kauffman Stadium, “My biggest memory is more auditory than visual. Out of any place I’ve ever been, the energy and life seemed to be sucked out of the crowd.” Bumgarner killed any confidence the Royals had and secured the game for the Giants to win their third World Series in four years.
3. Tim Lincecum’s No-Hitter
On July 13th, 2013 Tim Lincecum took the mound against the San Diego Padres and delivered one of the best performances of his career in the regular season. Lincecum struck out 13 Padres and walked only four batters. Lincecum’s performance is one to remember as his grit showed as he threw a total of 148 pitches. That’s an insane amount of pitches to be thrown especially compared to modern-day baseball pitchers only going 6 innings if they’re lucky. Lincecum was a true workhorse pitcher and it showed in his first career no-hitter.
2. Madison Bumgarner’s Game 5 Of The World Series
The best game in Madison Bumgarner’s career came in game five of the World Series. Bumgarner took the mound and delivered a performance to remember for all of those in attendance at what was formerly known as AT&T Park. Bumgarner struck out eight batters and only gave up four hits in a complete game shutout. His second start of the series was one to remember. This start was one of the biggest reasons he’s now seen as one of the best World Series-performing players ever. Bumgarner would finish this series with a 0.43 ERA and would win World Series MVP. Easily one of the best World Series performances we’ve ever seen.
1. Matt Cain’s Perfect Game
On June 13th, 2012 Matt Cain delivered one of the best games in MLB history. Cain threw a perfect game and it gave him a game score of 101, usually a game score falls within 50-70, but Cain delivered an extremely rare 101. Amongst perfect games, this game score ties him for first with Sandy Koufax’s perfect game. In this game, Cain sat down 14 batters and threw a total of 125 pitches. Cain didn’t do it all himself he had help from a stellar outfield. Elite defensive plays from Melky Cabrera catching a deep fly ball off the wall in the top of the sixth. Or Grégor Blanco‘s backward diving catch in the top of the seventh. Cain received the support needed to finish off a legendary display. This would go down as the first perfect game in Giant’s franchise history. It was a night to be remembered for the rest of baseball history.
These are the best pitching performances over the last 15 years from the Giants pitchers. These are all the starts I’ve been able to watch growing up and it’s what made me fall in love with baseball seeing dominant pitchers like Cain, Bumgarner, Snell, and Lincecum go to work.
Main Image: Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports
