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Talk all you want about odd-year curses. Point out that the San Francisco Giants are looking up at the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West and at the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs in the NL wild-card race.

On Sunday, Madison Bumgarner offered his retort.

The ace left-hander chewed up the Washington Nationals in a dominant 5-0 shutout at AT&T Park, scattering three hits and one walk and striking out 14 in nine transcendent frames.

Oh, and he clubbed a home run, too—his fourth of the season. As sports writer Wendy Thurm noted, that puts MadBum in surprising batting territory for a pitcher:

This is the Bumgarner who took the Giants on his back last autumn and led them to their third World Series win in five years. The scowling, snot rocket-slinging stud who breaks down big league hitters like saplings.

Bumgarner has been exemplary all year, but he appears to have flipped a switch as the playoff chase heats up. Sunday's gem was his second consecutive complete game, and he's now lasted at least seven innings in each of his last five starts.

San Francisco, not coincidentally, has gone 4-1 in those games.

"I'd like to think I go out there with the same intent every time," Bumgarner told CSN Bay Area's Amy Gutierrez immediately after baffling the Nats. "But there's something to say about playing baseball this time of year. There's just something in the air that's a little different."

The Giants have looked very different since returning to the Bay Area on the heels of a tough 10-game road trip that ended with a dispiriting four-game sweep against the Cubs. Bumgarner did not pitch in any of those four games, which, as McCovey Chronicles' Grant Brisbee noted, "is not against the rules of baseball, but it's probably against some unwritten rules."

After splitting a two-game set with the Houston Astros, the Giants took four straight from the reeling Nationals to finish their homestand at 5-1. In the four games against Washington, San Francisco's offense erupted for 28 runs.

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The defending champs got big hits from the usual suspects—Buster Posey, Hunter Pence, Matt Duffy and the Brandons, Belt and Crawford. But they also saw contributions from unexpected sources, like rookie second baseman Kelby Tomlinson, who is now hitting .333 since getting the call to replace injured All-Star Joe Panik.



That's been a key to San Francisco's nascent dynasty—unlikely saviors arising as needed and playing above their pay grade.

Or, in the case of Bumgarner, likely saviors doing what they do best.

Bumgarner wasn't the only reason the Giants hoisted another Commissioner's Trophy in 2014. But, particularly in the Fall Classic against the Kansas City Royals, he came about as close as any baseball player can to singlehandedly clinching a postseason series.

You know all about his iconic Game 7 performance, but let's go ahead and relive it anyway:

If that man is back in full form—and there's ample evidence to suggest he is—these Giants become measurably more dangerous, a playoff-tested dark horse no one wants to face.



Speaking of which, after a seven-game road trip through St. Louis and Pittsburgh beginning Monday, San Francisco will open a three-game series at home on Aug. 25 against those same streaking Cubbies.

The Giants have their sights trained on the Dodgers, whom they trail by just 2.5 games in the West. But if their season comes down to the wild-card scramble, these clashes with Pittsburgh and Chicago could be the difference.

October-esque baseball in mid-August? The Giants and MadBum will take it—odd year be damned.

All statistics and standings current as of August 16 and courtesy of MLB.com unless otherwise noted.