At last night's Giants-Dodgers game in L.A., Madison Bumgarner had a brief meltdown in the first inning after hitting Yasiel Puig in the foot with a pitch, leading to a shouting match and a very quick, bench-clearing near-brawl between the two rival teams. This happened in between Bumgarner letting in three runs that ultimately let the Dodgers clinch their playoff spot. He went on to pitch a solid game, but he was obviously thrown off in that moment with Puig, and while the Giants were probably looking at a wild-card spot anyway, it felt to some fans like it meant a lot.
In explaining why he started shouting first, Bumgarner says this to SFGate, "He turned around and looked at me like he had something in mind. He’ll know if it’s on purpose, which that one wasn’t. I’ll make sure of that."
The Giants came back to score two runs, finishing the game 4 to 2, but they remain five games behind the L.A. bums with their final game in this series tonight at 7:10.
Meanwhile, Bruce Bochy got the definitive word yesterday on Angel Pagan's back injury: He will be out for the remainder of the season as he gets surgery on a bulging disc. Bochy says it's just "time to get something done" about Pagan's back problem, as CBS reports, and Gregor Blanco will be replacing him in the leadoff spot.
In other totally insider Giants news, as Bay Area Sports Guy Steve Berman reports that the Giants have decided to boycott longtime beat reporter Andrew Baggarly, and that "they won't speak to any members of the media if Andrew Baggarly is present." This is all because Baggarly reported on an argument between Sergio Romo and coach Shawon Dunston in the clubhouse.
[CBS 5]