Bumgarner soaking it up

(06-27) 21:23 PDT -- Madison Bumgarner is 20, an age when people still absorb information like sponges if they are willing to listen, and the Giants left-hander has sopped up plenty in the last few months.

He learned from team executive Dick Tidrow and Fresno pitching coach Pat Rice that a timing issue in his delivery caused his noticeable drop in velocity. He learned that in the 21st century, a player who goes berserk on the field and needs to be held back from an umpire will find the images on YouTube. He also learned that pitching in the majors is much easier when relaxed.

Bumgarner allowed four runs on two homers in his 2010 major-league debut Saturday, then threw five shutout innings, retiring 16 of the last 17 Red Sox he faced.

"I just wish I could have come out there and been a little more relaxed and tried to treat it like another game," he said Sunday after a good night's sleep. "That's tough to do your first game coming up. Even my family was here, and they said the first couple of innings it looked like I was tense. When the third inning rolled around, they said I looked relaxed a little more and they thought I'd have better results."

In Fresno, Bumgarner's results and velocity improved instantaneously when the flaw in his delivery was discovered. His fastball, which had fallen to the high 80s, returned to the low-to-mid 90s.

"I had better life on the ball," he said. "It helped everything."

Bumgarner showed a little too much life in a June 7 game against Sacramento. A few calls went against him and he was ejected. Then came a tirade that included him chucking a baseball into the outfield. The league suspended him for three games, and a cell phone camera image of his outburst quickly appeared on You Tube.

"Unbelievable," he said. "There are just cameras everywhere. That's' what you're always told. Somebody's always watching, but you don't really pay much attention to it until it happens. I kind of let my competitiveness get the best of me there that one time. I don't see that ever happening again."

This article appeared on page B - 5 of the San Francisco Chronicle