vic came in shooting 5 for 32 from field in the Magics last three games and had not attempted a free throw in any o

PHILADELPHIA -- San Francisco left-hander Madison Bumgarner came up big as a hitter on Sunday. He hopes to make a more conventional contribution Tuesday night, when the Giants open a nine-game road trip with a game against the Philadelphia Phillies.Bumgarner (10-6, 2.09 ERA) gets the start for the struggling National League West leaders, facing Phillies rookie right-hander Zach Eflin (3-4, 4.23 ERA).Before winning the final two games of a four-game weekend series against the Washington Nationals, San Francisco had dropped 11 of 13 games since the All-Star break.The Giants, whose 10-13 record in July represented their worst in any month this season, shored up their pitching staff by acquiring starter Matt Moore from Tampa Bay and reliever Will Smith from the Milwaukee Brewers at Mondays trade deadline, but offense remains a concern. They are averaging 3.2 runs and hitting .243 as a team over their past 15 games.Bumgarner did his part at the plate Sunday, doubling off the right field fence in the fifth inning as a pinch hitter for starting pitcher Matt Cain. Manager Bruce Bochy made the move even though Cain had worked five no-hit innings against the Nationals -- albeit while throwing 93 pitches.Bochy then sent in pitcher Jeff Samardzija to pinch-run for Bumgarner, and Samardzija came around to score, helping San Francisco earn a 3-1 victory.They both want to get into the game, Bochy said of Bumgarner and Samardzija. Pretty impressive pinch-hit, wasnt it?Bumgarner, who is hitting .179 this season and .182 in his career, told MLB.com, Its fun to just be a part of the game and get a chance to help the team win when youre not out there pitching. Im just glad it worked out.Bumgarner, who turned 27 Monday, is 0-2 over his last three starts, though he has allowed just seven earned runs over 21 innings (an ERA of 3.00) while striking out 24. The Giants have managed just four runs in that span.The four-time All-Star also dropped a 3-2 decision to the Phillies on June 25, carrying a 2-0 lead into the seventh before yielding three runs in that inning, the last two on a homer by Philadelphia catcher Cameron Rupp.Thats one of the best in the game, Rupp said of Bumgarner during the Phillies last homestand, and to be able to have an at-bat like I did off him, and then the result, of course it boosts confidence. I think when you have confidence, you have success. Thats been the whole thing for me.Rupp, a full-time starter for the first time this season, is hitting .273 with 10 homers and 30 RBI. The Phillies as a team continue to struggle at the plate, however. They are 29th in the major leagues in batting average (.239) and runs (380), and their .218 home average is baseballs worst.Eflin allowed seven runs on nine hits over five innings in an 11-1 loss to the Miami Marlins his last time out, but in his previous seven starts, he fashioned a 2.08 ERA.Called up from Triple-A Lehigh Valley on June 10, he was acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Jimmy Rollins trade in December 2014. He pitched well in his only outing against the Giants, allowing just an unearned run in six innings during a no-decision on June 24 in San Francisco.Hydro Flask 40 OZ . On June 12, just as the sun sets on the magnificent historical city of Sao Paulo the inventors, innovators and purveyors of “joga bonitowill” open their campaign. The opponent, Croatia and all its football might and will. As opposites do attract we are set for a corker of an opener. Hydro Flask Coffee . Reassurance came from Paul Tesori, his caddie and close friend whose newborn son is in intensive care in a Florida hospital. "Paul sent me a text this morning, just told me he loved me and wanted to go out and fight as hard as I would any other day," Simpson said Sunday after doing just that. http://www.sverigehydroflask.com/ . The recently retired Stern was elected Friday to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and will be enshrined with the class of 2014 on Aug. Hydro Flask 32 OZ . McPhee said that Ovechkins father Mikhail is in stable condition after having the surgery this week and is no longer in intensive care. "Weve told him to stay as long as necessary with your dad," he said. Ovechkin and his Russian national team were eliminated from the mens hockey tournament in Sochi on Wednesday with a 3-1 quarter-final loss to Finland. Hydro Flask Kaffe . Following a lopsided 5-2 loss against the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday night, Paul MacLean told reporters that "theres a lack of focus, theres a lack of leadership and theres a lack of preparation" with his struggling team. That came on the heels of Bryan Murray taking the unusual step of going into the locker room at the Prudential Center and addressing the players himself.ORLANDO, Fla. -- After giving up a 12-point halftime lead, the Orlando Magic recovered with enough baskets and key stops down the stretch to grind out a big win.Serge Ibaka scored 16 points and Nikola Vucevic broke out of his shooting slump with 10 points and 14 rebounds to help lift the Magic to an 89-82 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday night.After Terrence Jones basket pulled New Orleans to 84-82, Vucevic made back-to-back shots in the waning moments for the win.We are going to keep fighting, keep trying to find a way, said Vucevic, who finished 10 points and 14 rebounds. Were not playing really good basketball right now, its not easy to get stuff going and get into the flow but we just have to find ways to get wins until we figure that out.At times in the second half it appeared the Magic were headed to a second straight defeat as their offense tanked and they couldnt get stops against Pelicans team that found out late that Anthony Davis wouldnt be available because of a thigh injury.Jones, who replaced Davis in the starting lineup, scored a game-high 26 points for the Pelicans.Jones had 12 points in the third quarter to help the Pelicans comeback from a 12-point first-half deficit to pull within one point late in the period. The Magic held on to a 65-63 lead at the end of the third.New Orleans completed its comeback with 9:23 in the game when Buddy Hield knocked down a baseline jumper to put his team up briefly 70-69. But Augustin and Rudez countered with a combined 10 points during a stretch to put the Magic back ahead, 79-73.The Magic shot just 39 percent from the field with all of the starters struggling to hit shots consistently. But without Davis in the lineup, the Pelicans offense was stagnant at times, too, and finished shooting 37 percent. Serge Ibaka and Evan Fournier led the way with 16 points each.We talked the whole night that nothing is easy in the NBA, Magic coach Frank Vogel said. Its just one of those thingss where one guy goes down and everybody else has an opportunity.dddddddddddd You are going to work and earn everything.After a sluggish start, the Magic got going in the second quarter. They came up with stops and Ibaka and Fournier both hit big shots to build Orlandos lead to 15 before heading into halftime with a 52-40 advantage.Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry was pleased to see his team fight the way it did in Davis absence but he still felt they let a winnable game slip away.I thought our defense was fantastic, played the whole game, said Gentry, whose team slipped to 2-10. You just have to find a way offensively to get a few baskets.TIP-INSPelicans: Langston Galloway, a free agent signee last summer, followed up his breakout game against Boston on Monday with 15 points off the bench against the Magic. He scored 21 points against the Celtics. ... The Pelicans came in having lost two of three.Magic: Vucevic came in shooting 5 for 32 from field in the Magics last three games and had not attempted a free throw in any of the three games. ... Jeff Green has struggled since being inserted into the starting lineup for Aaron Gordon. Green went 0 for 9 from the field for zero points on Wednesday night.ANOTHER JONES DOUBLE-DOUBLE (ALMOST)After not getting 10 rebounds in any of his 50 games with Houston last season, Jones came one rebound short of his second straight double-double. Jones had 15 and 10 off the bench Monday in a win over Boston.COLD STARTSThe Magic came into the game as the NBAs lowest-scoring (92.6) and worst-shooting (.410) team, and missed their first five shots while the Pelicans were missing their first eight. Orlando shot .386 for the game to New Orleans .370.UP NEXTPelicans: Host Portland on Friday night.Magic: Host Dallas on Saturday night. The Magic have lost nine of the last 10 at home to the Mavericks. ' ' '