The San Francisco Giants have had games where their pitchers let them down, their defense made mind-blowing errors and their offense never came to life.
The Giants didn’t have an ugly, non-competitive performance on Thursday at Oracle Park, but it’s possible no loss from the 2020 season will hurt the club as much as their 11-inning, 5-4 defeat to the Colorado Rockies will.
With a chance to gain a firm grip on the top wild card spot in the National League ahead of a pivotal four-game series against the San Diego Padres, the Giants blew an early 3-0 lead and missed golden opportunities to put the game away in the bottom of the 10th.
A Wilmer Flores flyball died at the warning track, a five-man infield employed by the Rockies actually worked and Evan Longoria watched a 104.0 mile per hour liner into the hole between third and short end up in the wrong glove at the wrong time.
The Giants were nearly two games over .500 for the first time this season, but instead finished Thursday at 28-28 and hoping that the Milwaukee Brewers and Philadelphia Phillies would play some of their worst baseball of the year over the weekend.
The 27-29 Brewers aided the Giants by losing to the Cardinals on Thursday 4-2 with their ace, Corbin Burnes, on the mound, but have enough time left to climb the standings.
Manager Gabe Kapler’s club is 1-5 against the Padres and 6-16 against winning clubs in 2020, but for the Giants to make the postseason, the team will likely have to win three of four against a San Diego team that has two of its top starters scheduled to pitch in Friday’s doubleheader.
Can the Giants rebound from their worst loss of the season? Can a team that’s been defined by its resilience prove that no gut punch is potent enough to knock it out? What will the wild card race look like after a doubleheader that has massive playoff implications?
The Giants will know the answers to all of those questions soon enough.
SF Giants Gameday: Listen to the Bay Area News Group’s daily San Francisco Giants podcast, hosted by our beat reporter Kerry Crowley. We give you an all-access look at the 2020 regular season with soundbites from manager Gabe Kapler and your favorite Giants players plus the latest analysis on every move during an unprecedented season.
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