Defeat drops in on S.F.

DENVER — Steven Okert made his pitch, the National League batting leader and MVP candidate skied it into the air and left fielder Mac Williamson dropped it. Williamson’s misplay, wrongly ruled a double for Charlie Blackmon, started a ninth inning that ended with Cory Gearrin walking Carlos Gonzalez with the bases loaded and handing the Rockies a 4-3 victory.

Manager Bruce Bochy was disconsolate after the Giants fell to 0-8 this season at Coors Field on Monday. Then he got ornery when he learned the scoring decision. Williamson should have caught it after a long run, even with the wind blowing and the sky smoky, apparently from forest fires.

“The ball was up there for a long time,” Bochy said.

Williamson said the ball did some “funky things” in the sky, but still, “I got to the ball. I got a glove on it. In the big leagues, you’ve got to make that play.”

Scoring decisions are the least of the Giants’ issues as the season wanes. After a stretch of better play in late July and August, they have put 100 losses back on the table by dropping nine of their past 11. They seem incapable of doing more than a couple of things right in the same game.

Denard Span and Joe Panik were a dream atop the order in the Labor Day matinee. They went 6-for-8 and each hit his 10th home run. Span also doubled.

But the Giants got only one other hit, from No. 3 hitter Buster Posey, a single that led to nothing. The 4 through 9 hitters were 0-for-21. That included an 0-for-4 from Pablo Sandoval, whose hitless streak reached 33 at-bats.

That’s the longest by a San Francisco hitter since Johnnie LeMaster’s 37 in 1984.

Some of the faithful are beginning to get annoyed with Bochy for continuing to play Sandoval, especially when Ryder Jones and Kelby Tomlinson sit, as they did Monday.

“We’ve got a few guys who are cold with the bat,” Bochy said. “It’s not like the other guys are tearing it up. I’m going to have to give (Sandoval) a break and give other guys a break. We’re trying to get stronger. We’re trying to get Pablo a good look, along with some other guys.”

The Giants have 22 games left and need to win nine to avoid the franchise’s second 100-loss season.