Madison Bumgarner’s indestructible arm, strong bat carrying Giants

11:49 PM ET

San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner may be the biggest impediment to the Chicago Cubs hope of reaching the World Series for the first time in 71 years.

We’re talking about both the past and the present as it pertains to Bumgarner, and we’re talking about both his arm and his bat.

Lowest ERA in MayJulio Teheran0.67Clayton Kershaw0.82Madison Bumgarner0.98

Bumgarner drove in the only run in a 1-0 win over the Cubs on Sunday. He and Clayton Kershaw are the only pitchers to win a 1-0 game in which they drove in the only run this season. Bumgarner is the first Giants pitcher to do so since Russ Ortiz against the Brewers in 2000.

He’s now 5-0 with a 1.25 ERA and 48 strikeouts in 43 1/3 innings pitches in his last six starts overall. He has a 1.26 ERA in his last four starts against the Cubs.

How he’s doing it

Bumgarner has gained back some of the fastball velocity it appeared he had lost earlier in the season (remember that he pitched on Opening Day against the Brewers with the flu). He averaged 90.4 MPH with the pitch in April, but has bumped that up to 91.2 in May. The little extra push …

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