"Manager Bruce Bochy calls Madison Bumgarner "country strong" and has plenty of statistical evidence behind him, including the left-hander's 121-pitch performance Monday.

Bumgarner established a career high with 13 strikeouts. He has four double-digit strikeout games in 2011, including the past two. That he has done that at this late stage shows that the increased workload during the 2010 postseason, and the shorter offseason that followed, has not weakened him.

"He's so mature beyond his years," Bochy said. "Going back to last year, pitching in the World Series, he's really grown up as a pitcher. He's not getting rattled anymore, or unraveled, when things go bad.""