Giants pitchers know how to swing bats for power

Madison Bumgarner’s recent home run against Clayton Kershaw was a rare sight. Not only was it just the third homer by a pitcher this season, only 15 were hit all of last season. What made it even more of a rare treat was the stature of the two pitchers involved.

This prompted Sports On Earth to consider the best pitching matchups to produce pitcher home runs in recent years. Giants pitchers represented themselves well on the list. Bumgarner’s shot off of Kershaw was ranked third, according to SOE. Another MadBum homer was ranked fourth on the list. This was a fist-pumping shot which Bumgarner hit off the Dodgers’ second-best pitcher, Zack Greinke, in 2014.

The top-ranked homer on the list was not another Bumgarner homer, but actually one hit by Matt Cain off of Cole Hamels in 2012. It’s actually a shared honor because what made this homer special was the fact that Hamels then proceeded to hit one himself off of Cain, in the bottom half of the same inning. That was only the fourth time since 1966 that opposing pitchers had both homered off each other.

(h/t Sports On Earth)

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