Almost perfect: Inside Madison Bumgarner's dominating start

Those who stayed up late enough for Madison Bumgarner's near-perfect game were treated to one of the most dominating pitching performances of the last 50 years, let alone the season. 

One-hitters don't typically receive the accolades reserved for no-hitters and perfect games, but Bumgarner's 13-strikeout, no-walk gem against the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday is certainly an exception.

Giants manager Bruce Bochy showered his pitcher with praise when speaking to reporters after the game:

That game was probably more impressive than a lot of no-hitters, that's how well he threw tonight. You look at the strikeouts, his stuff, the command ... it was a very, very impressive evening for him.

Bumgarner, who was perfect through seven innings, faced just one more than the minimum in the Giants' 3-0 win over the Rockies. Justin Morneau's seventh-inning double marked the only time the opposition reached base.

How dominating was he? Here's how he dismantled Colorado's lineup:

• The lefty was extremely efficient, throwing 80 of his 103 pitches for strikes, including first-pitch strikes to 24-of-28 batters.
• He retired the first 21 hitters and threw three balls in just one count - to Drew Stubbs in the fourth inning. Bumgarner then struck him out.
• His 27 outs came via the strikeout (13), ground ball (4) and fly ball (10).
• Lots of swings and misses. Bumgarner generated a season-high 25 whiffs on the night thanks to an untouchable fastball. The breakdown of his swinging strikes, according to Brooks Baseball: 20 fastballs, three curveballs and two cutters.

Speaking of that fastball, Bumgarner relied heavily on it, offering it 70 percent of the time and throwing it harder in the ninth than he did to begin the game. His fastball velocity by inning, courtesy of Brooks Baseball:

It was Bumgarner's National League-leading sixth double-digit strikeout game of the season. His game score of 98 (a metric created by statistician Bill James to determine the strength of a pitcher's start) is the second-best in the majors this season next to Clayton Kershaw's 102.

Tuesday's start was the latest masterpiece in what's become a career year for Bumgarner. 

The 25-year-old has pitched to a 3.02 ERA and 1.09 WHIP over 28 starts, with the highest strikeout rate (25.8 percent), lowest walk rate (5.1 percent) and best FIP (2.86) of his six big-league seasons.