Madison Bumgarner Throws 7 Innings in Return from Dirt Bike Accident Injuries

San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner was activated from the 60-day disabled list and tossed seven sold innings Saturday night at Petco Park against the San Diego Padres.

In his return to the mound after suffering injuries in a dirt bike accident, Bumgarner struck out five and walked two while allowing three earned runs, all of which came on home runs. All told, he allowed four hits on a night when he threw 102 pitches.

In other words, he looked like his usual, efficient self.

Before hitting the disabled list, he had posted a 3.00 ERA, 1.074 WHIP with 28 strikeouts and just four walks across 27 innings. Those stats were pretty much right in line with his career numbers.

The 27-year-old left-hander admitted riding a dirt bike on an off day was "definitely not the most responsible decision I've made," but he was also surprised by the severity of the injuries based on the rather mundane crash, per Carl Steward of the Bay Area News Group.

"Man, I knew I was going to get asked that question and I wish I had some sort of cool story for you, some kind of crazy wreck but it really wasn't anything spectacular," he said. "It was just super unfortunate. I wasn't really going that fast. I honestly don't know what happened. It was a surprise to me, too ... when I was younger, I got in much worse wrecks. Nothing ever happened, though. But that was a long time ago, too."

Alas, he ended up missing nearly three months of action due to the injuries.

The Giants didn't fare well without him. They currently own the worst record in the NL West and the second-worst mark in all of baseball, ahead of only the Philadelphia Phillies.

It would take a second-half miracle for San Francisco to bounce back from the first-half struggles in order to qualify for the playoffs.

Getting Bumgarner back will provide a massive boost to the rotation, but it's going to take a lot more than a starting pitcher—even one of the best—who takes the ball every fifth day to turn things around.