Late loss might be last straw
SAN DIEGO — The Dodgers stopped helping the Giants on Wednesday night.
It was right there for the Giants to see in the late stages of their season-crushing 5-4 loss to the Padres, which was capped by Jedd Gyorko’s walk-off single that scored Matt Kemp. Santiago Casilla, the Giants’ 10th pitcher, threw the pitch.
It’s easy to scoreboard-watch at Petco Park, where out-oftown results are flashed high above right field in clear view of the Giants’ dugout along the third-base line.
Shortly after 9:30 p.m., the board showed that Dodgers had scored three eighth-inning runs for a 4-1 lead over the Diamondbacks. Moments later and a short jaunt south, San Diego’s Yangervis Solarte doubled home two runs to erase a 2-0 Giants lead in the seventh.
Suddenly, the good vibes that surfaced Tuesday when the Giants pulled closer to the firstplace Dodgers in the National League West were put on hold.
“I’m not going to sit here and lie to you and tell you I feel great about our chances,” said Jake Peavy, who threw six scoreless innings and watched the bullpen give up five in the final three innings. “That being said, we’re not mathematically eliminated.
“When you lose one like this, it’s tough. It’s harsh reality. That being said, we’re going to show up tomorrow and see if we can’t win. See if we can’t sweep Oakland. See if we can’t sweep the Dodgers.”
Shortly after the Dodgers finished off Arizona — ending their four-game skid, lowering their magic number to clinch the division to six and putting the Champagne on ice — an unlikely source emerged to give the Giants a boost. Jarrett Parker hit an opposite-field homer to break the 2-2 tie in the eighth.
The lead didn’t last. In the bottom of the eighth, Sergio Romo gave up three hits, including Travis Jankowski’s two-run double. The rally began when Romo yielded singles to Brett Wallace and Gyorko.
The Giants tied the score 4-4 in the ninth when Buster Posey scored on Craig Kimbrel’s twoout wild pitch. Posey had reached on Kemp’s error on a liner to right. Posey advanced to third on Brandon Crawford’s double, but Kimbrel struck out the next two batters — including Mac Williamson in his first big-league at-bat — and needed to retire Trevor Brown to secure the save.
Instead, Kimbrel sailed a pitch and Posey scored.
At night’s end, though, the Dodgers’ magic number was down to 5.
“We’re hanging by a thread,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “This was a tough one we let get away. But (we’re) still breathing. That’s the way you look at it. You never know.”
It was a big letdown for the Giants on a night Peavy scattered four hits and issued one walk. Crawford’s two-run single in the first inning gave Peavy momentum, and Peavy cruised for 88 pitches.
His toughest out came on a ball Derek Norris hit softly to the right side. Peavy fielded the ball and looked up, expecting to see someone covering first base. Nobody was there. Posey, the first baseman, had broken to the ball, so Peavy dived in the dirt to make the play himself.
With Peavy gone, Bochy used Cory Gearrin in the seventh, and the move backfired. The first two batters reached, and Bochy put in Josh Osich, who collected two quick strikeouts before Solarte’s double tied the score.
“He’s got good stuff. He’s good against righties,” Bochy said of Gearrin. “I’m trying to give some guys a break, too. I’m very comfortable with him out there. It didn’t work out tonight.”