When Arizona Diamondbacks left-hander Madison Bumgarner last took the mound, he was ejected following a bizarre situation with umpire Dan Bellino at the end of the first inning.
Bumgarner (1-1, 1.50 ERA) aims for a much longer outing on Tuesday, when Arizona continues a three-game series against the Miami Marlins in Phoenix.
The Diamondbacks have won each of their first four meetings against Miami this season by one run, including a 4-3 victory on Monday.
Arizona has produced 10 victories in its past 13 games, while Miami has dropped eight of its past nine.
Bumgarner, who has allowed a total of four earned runs in his first six starts, was ejected by Bellino during a routine foreign substance check against Miami on Wednesday.
Instead of looking at his hands, Bellino stared at the pitcher’s face before ejecting Bumgarner for profanity directed toward an umpire.
The early exit had an immediate impact on Arizona’s pitching plans. Corbin Martin, who replaced Bumgarner and pitched the next four innings, was sent to Triple-A Reno on Friday so the Diamondbacks could have another fresh pitcher for their weekend series against the visiting Colorado Rockies.
Bellino later issued an apology for his actions, but Bumgarner said he had already moved forward.
“I don’t need an apology,” Bumgarner said. “Corbin Martin needs an apology. He was forced to come in and threw four innings and then unfortunately there’s too many days where we need a pitcher, so now he’s in Triple-A. That affected him in a much bigger way than it affected me.”
Bumgarner, 32, owns a 3-4 record and 3.86 ERA in 13 career starts against Miami. Garrett Cooper is hitless in 10 at-bats versus Bumgarner, while Miguel Rojas is 5-for-15 with a homer and Jesus Aguilar is 3-for-15 with two doubles.
The Marlins will counter with promising left-hander Jesus Luzardo (2-2, 3.08), who allowed two runs on three hits over six-plus innings in a 2-1 loss to the San Diego Padres on Thursday.
Luzardo, 24, struck out seven batters in the defeat and has posted a 35-to-12 strikeout-to-walk ratio through his first five starts covering 26 1/3 innings.
“He’s been great,” Miami manager Don Mattingly said. “For the most part all spring, all season, he’s been ahead in the counts, throwing strikes, using all his pitches. He’s going to continue to get better as he goes in his career and through the year, but there’s nothing that he’s doing right now that you could ask for much more.”
Luzardo is 1-0 with a 5.00 ERA in two career starts against Arizona.
Miami’s bullpen received a boost on Monday when right-hander Dylan Floro was reinstated from the injured list after missing the start of the season due to right rotator cuff tendinitis.
“Hopefully adding him is just another guy in that mix that you can count on for quality outs in different parts of the game,” Mattingly said.
Arizona second baseman Ketel Marte extended his hitting streak to nine games with two hits on Monday, including a tiebreaking solo homer in the sixth inning.
The Diamondbacks’ recent surge has been led by a mix of clutch hitting and quality pitching. The team’s starting pitchers are 6-0 with a 1.26 ERA over the past nine games.
–Field Level Media