Statcast of the Day: Puig lands big blow

When Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig stepped to the plate against Giants left-hander Madison Bumgarner in the first inning of Friday night’s series opener at AT&T Park, it wasn’t just a typical regular-season at-bat.

This was the first on-field meeting between the two since they were at the center of a benches-clearing incident on Sept. 19 at Dodger Stadium. Puig marked the occasion by letting his bat do the talking with a notable hit.

With two outs and Corey Seager on first base in a scoreless game, Bumgarner fired a 91.9-mph fastball that carried a perceived velocity of 93.7 mph. However, the pitch caught too much of the plate, and Puig whacked a line drive down the left-field line.

The 111.5-mph exit velocity on Puig’s hit not only was his fifth-hardest of the season, but also the third-hardest recorded off Bumgarner since the Statcast™ Era began last year. It trails only a double by the Brewers’ Jonathan Villar on June 14 (114.1 mph) and a single by Ian Desmond — then of the Nationals — last Aug. 16 (112.7 mph). Previously, the Dodgers’ …

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