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DENVER — Two four-game sequence. Two inferior Nationwide League West foes. Two probabilities to make up precious floor within the crowded NL wild card race.
The Giants bungled them each, and their playoff likelihood is on life help with 13 video games to go.
A formidable Saturday night time crowd of 43,885 watched their last-place hometown squad deal the Giants (75-74) a 3rd defeat within the span of 24 hours, 5-2, severely deflating San Francisco’s playoff hopes throughout its best remaining stretch of schedule. It’s arduous not to attract parallels to the Giants’ four-game set earlier this month in opposition to the fourth-place Padres, who took three out of 4 in a sequence San Francisco needed to win.
These video games additionally came about in entrance of bigger and livelier crowds than the Giants have drawn at their waterfront ballpark for many of the summer time. Their struggles away from Oracle Park know no bounds, falling to 4-23 of their previous 27 street video games — together with the previous three at a ballpark they’d been 19-10 at below Gabe Kapler’s tenure as supervisor.
Whereas there’s nonetheless a fourth sport left right here Sunday afternoon (LHP Sean Manaea vs. RHP Chris Flexen, 12:10 p.m. PT), the sequence script has already been written. The Giants missed an enormous alternative, and the Rockies clinched their first sequence win in opposition to a divisional opponent all season. That they had misplaced 16 of their previous 17 conferences with the Giants coming into this sequence.
Making issues worse: the Marlins beat the Braves and the Reds beat the Mets, dropping the Giants 2½ video games again of the third and ultimate NL wild card. Their upcoming two-game set in Arizona, which was nonetheless in motion in opposition to the Cubs when this sport went ultimate, nonetheless looms giant with tiebreaker implications.
The NL West is formally out of attain. Their loss within the second sport Saturday eradicated them from rivalry, nevertheless unlikely it had been since mid-summer.
Sweeping Saturday’s doubleheader, the Rockies earned extra wins in opposition to the Giants than they’d collected in additional than a yr’s span, relationship again to final August.
The Giants used three bulk pitchers in Sport 1. They allowed 9 runs, however the “silver lining,” supervisor Gabe Kapler stated, was that they might have a totally rested bullpen for the second sport. San Francisco fell right into a 2-0 after the primary inning, although, and by no means had a result in defend.
Alex Cobb was the Giants’ initially scheduled starter Saturday, however nonetheless coping with a hip impingement, he was pushed again till Tuesday in Arizona.
That left the Giants to assault the nightcap of Saturday’s double header with an opener, Scott Alexander, and Jakob Junis in a bulk position behind him.
The combo allowed 4 runs over 4⅔ innings, although just one run was earned.
Within the first, Paul DeJong muffed a routine grounder from Ezequiel Tovar, who instantly made the Giants pay for the error. He swiped second and scored on a double from Kris Bryant, who was pushed dwelling a pair batters later when Elehuris Montero gained an eight-pitch battle with Junis with a line drive into left area.
Tovar’s aggressive base working led to extra miscues in a two-run third inning. He singled dwelling Charlie Blackmon after the bearded veteran outfielder tripled to leadoff the inning, then took off for second on the primary of two wild pitches from Junis. Bailey scrambled to corral the ball and rushed a throw, sidearm, that sailed extensive of Thairo Estrada and into heart area, permitting Tovar to take third. Junis buried one other pitch within the dust that acquired away from Bailey and allowed Tovar to attain.
The Giants acquired one again within the second on their third straight single, off the bat of Mike Yastrzemski, getting a uncommon begin in opposition to a left-hander, and manufactured one other run within the sixth after Estrada and Wilmer Flores led off with back-to-back singles.
However two runs at Coors Area, like their two-hit effort Friday night time, isn’t sufficient to get the job completed. The Giants grounded into 5 double performs between each video games of the dual invoice Saturday, together with one off the bat of Mitch Haniger that ended the third inning, stranding their solely extra-base hit of the night time, a leadoff double from Austin Slater.
In three video games on this hitter’s paradise, they’ve scored 9 runs on 18 hits whereas going 5-for-26 (.192) with runners in scoring place. With runners on second and third within the backside of the ninth, Yastrzemski struck out, and after Brandon Crawford labored a nine-pitch stroll to load the bases, Blake Sabol popped out.
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