NEW YORK _ The last time Madison Bumgarner pitched at Citi Field, the Giants ace was so dominant that manager Bruce Bochy thought he'd ask Bumgarner to pitch a potential 10th inning if a 0-0 game remained tied.
Instead, a three-run ninth inning home run by Conor Gillaspie led the Giants to a 3-0 win in the 2016 National League Wildcard game and Bumgarner didn't need to keep going.
In his return to the mound in New York Thursday, the stakes were much lower but Bumgarner was nearly as brilliant in a 3-1 Giants win.
Bumgarner matched season highs with eight innings and eight strikeouts while allowing just one run in an outing that lowered his ERA to 2.88.
After outlasting Mets right-hander Noah Syndergaard in 2016, Bumgarner matched up with Jacob deGrom in a highly anticipated battle Thursday. With a major-league best ERA and a legitimate Cy Young resume, deGrom has been the toughest starter in baseball since the beginning of the season.
Unsurprisingly, Bumgarner didn't back down.
Aside from allowing just five hits on 109 pitches, Bumgarner also knocked in the second run of the game with a two-out RBI double off deGrom in the fourth inning. Though the power-hitting pitcher hasn't launched a home run yet this season, his last three base hits have come against deGrom, Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke.
After opening the game with six shutout innings, Bumgarner allowed a solo home run to Mets third baseman Todd Frazier to open the seventh. The next two hitters reached base, but a 6-4-3 double play and strikeout helped Bumgarner preserve a 2-1 Giants lead.
The Giants scored their first run in the third inning after catcher Devin Mesoraco failed to glove a deGrom fastball and allowed a passed ball. Rookie Steven Duggar raced home from third base to push the Giants ahead, but the team didn't do much more against deGrom who finished with 10 strikeouts in six innings.
Third baseman Evan Longoria extended the Giants lead to 3-1 in the seventh with his second home run of the series and 14th homer of the year. Longoria pulled into a three-way tie for the team lead in home runs with Andrew McCutchen and Brandon Belt, but the Giants remain the only team lacking a player with 15 homers this year.
The Bumgarner-deGrom battle salvaged an otherwise forgettable series in New York as the teams wound up splitting the four-game set. With a win Thursday, the Giants finished their final three-city road trip of the season at 4-6 and have just 12 away games remaining.
Though the Giants are far removed from Bumgarner's heroic outing in the 2016 Wildcard Game, the left-hander proved Thursday why he's still one of the most respected pitchers in the sport. While Bumgarner may not have a mid-90s fastball anymore, Bochy said he's refined his secondary offerings and evolved in a way that can make him a valuable asset for years to come.
