Former SF Giants ace Madison Bumgarner throws seven-inning no-hitter for D’backs

During Madison Bumgarner’s tenure with the San Francisco Giants, the left-hander watched Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and even Chris Heston toss no-hitters.

Bumgarner never threw one of his own, but in his second season with the Arizona Diamondbacks, the legendary southpaw has changed that.

Well…sort of.

In the second game of a doubleheader against the Atlanta Braves, Bumgarner threw seven innings of no-hit ball to lead the D’backs to a 7-0 victory. Bumgarner was the only pitcher to appear for Arizona in Sunday’s game, but because the game only lasted seven innings due to MLB’s new doubleheader rule, his effort won’t officially be recognized as a “no-hitter.”

Bumgarner’s teammates mobbed the lefty on the mound and celebrated as if his achievement will go down in history, but at the moment, it’s an impressive statistical anomaly.

The former Giants ace faced the minimum on Sunday against Atlanta and struck out seven Braves hitters, but wasn’t “perfect” because shortstop Nick Ahmed made an error to open the second inning. With Ozzie Albies standing on first base, Bumgarner then induced a 6-4-3 double play, taking away the Braves’ only opportunity with a runner on base against him.

Bumgarner entered Sunday’s game with a 7.16 ERA in his one-plus year tenure with the D’backs, which is the highest of any pitcher who has thrown at least 50 innings since the start of the 2020 season.