Madison Bumgarner Pinch Hit For Matt Cain, Who Had A No-Hitter, Then Things Got Weird

Madison Bumgarner can swing the bat, and is probably the best hitting pitcher in baseball right now. On Sunday he showed off his talents again, as he was inserted as a pinch hitter for fellow San Francisco Giants hurler Matt Cain. But that’s not even where the story starts to get weird.

Cain actually had a no-hitter going through five innings against the Washington Nationals. But he had thrown 93 pitches, so manager Bruce Bochy opted to take him out. Bochy had a full bench to choose from, but decided to call on Bumgarner to swing the bat. Well, it worked, as Bumgarner boomed a double to right field.

Madison Bumgarner is pinch-hitting for Matt Cain, who has a no-hitter intact through 5 innings. Every word of that sentence is accurate.
— Mark Zuckerman (@MarkZuckerman) July 31, 2016

As he stood on second, Bochy made his next puzzling decision. He called on fellow pitcher Jeff Samardzija to run for Bumgarner. Samardzija scored later in the inning.

Pitcherception: Pitcher Jeff Samardzija pinch ran for pitcher Madison Bumgarner who pinch hit for pitcher Matt Cain. pic.twitter.com/8dSRy6dDOt
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 31, 2016

If you’re wondering what Bochy is smoking on the bench, I truly don’t have the answer for you. Apparently the man knows what he’s doing though because it wound up working out perfectly.