Say "good-bye" to first; "hello" to oblivion

San Francisco, welcome to the Wild Card race. Enjoy it while it lasts because we think this rocky horror of a season may have ended on August 15. After locking down no less than a share of first place in the NL West since May 10, the Giants made their nosedive complete on Tuesday, ceding the top spot to The Hated Los Angeles Dodgers after yet another frustrating loss; this one a 4-3 setback to Pittsburgh at AT&T Park.

This one had a Spliborghsian feel to it, one of those games where you feel the momentum has permanently shifted. After an extended run of road games the Giants had hoped to get back on track with a 10-game home stand. They’ve dropped four of the first five and three straight, two of those coming in gut-wrenching fashion. Yep, the season is now officially a dumpster fire.

They’re descending into the Sarlaac pit and despite a considerable amount of time remaining. There appears to be no escape. Extended home stands, players returning from injury, new acquisitions: all were reasons for hope. None has provided any real aid, and desperate measures like signing use-to-be-good Joe Nathan don’t promise to change their fortunes. It’s like waiting from help from Phil Nevin or Ryan Klesko, all supposed saviors who were really good -- a decade before the Giants got them.

A Jay Bruce or Aroldis Chapman would have been too much to ask for, right? It’s not like they gave up anything good for Matt Moore (winless in three SF starts) or Will Smith  ... oh, wait. But the money? Gotta be able to pay Samardzija. This is not a winning formula, and the opportunity to shake it up in any significant way has passed.

Yes, there’s still the wildcard, but his isn’t 2014. It also isn’t 2010, when an offensively challenged team got hot in November and a great pitching staff carried them. There isn’t anything this team does well on a consistent basis, at least not since early July.

What's worse, the games aren't entertaining, moving at a snail's pace as if to prolong the agony. This goes beyond torture. From the fourth inning on we made a sandwich, took a shower and learned to play the accordion and still made it back for the eighth.

You saw this one coming from four off-ramps and a toll plaza away. The only real surprise was that the latest relief failure came from rookie Derek Law, who had looked like a closer in waiting, and not from among the plethora of proven gas cans the Giants currently employ. Over the past five weeks San Francisco has looked less like a contender and more like an expansion team trying to get by on castoffs and guys who play like they should be in AA.

Span and Pagan score on Posey's first-inning double. There's your highlight. (AP Photo)

There’s no use in describing the contest; it followed a familiar blueprint. The Giants scratched out a few runs but blew way too many chances to add on, and a challenged pitching staff couldn’t get the job done when it mattered. As a result, the Orange and black dropped their 20^th of 29 games since the All-Star Break. Over that span they’ve won just one series – taking two of three at Miami. Everything else? Disaster.

On April 3 you’d have gladly taken a 66-53 record at this point, but the way it developed makes being 11-games over .500 beyond unsatisfying.  Heading into the Mid-summer Classic the Giants were 57-33, a ridiculous .633 winning percentage, and they held a 6 ½ game lead over a Dodger team that was (a) struggling, and (b) had lost ace Clayton Kershaw. Since then the Dodgers haven’t exactly set the world on fire. The Giants blew a chance to put the division n ice, winning at a pathetic .310 clip to surrender their edge. The real shock is that it took as long as it did.

Jung Ho Kang’s eighth inning, two-out solo homer off Law finally finished the slide that had been brewing for over a month, and it’s time to call it like it is. When you go from being the best team (by record) in baseball through 90 games to a laughingstock before the first pitch in Game 120, that’s not a slump.  The past five weeks have seen a collapse of epic proportions, and there’s no end in sight.

Giants Beat Writer Henry Schulman took to Twitter during the contest, describing a Hunter Pence at-bat but nicely summing up the season in the process. The Giants always seem to be on the verge of a breakout, but it never actually happens. The magic that had them getting every break through the first half of the season has gone to the zoo, and what remains simply can’t compete on a regular basis.

“It’s not at the point where these guys have their backs to the wall yet, but it’s up to us to find a way to get on a roll,” Manager Bruce Bochy told the media afterward. Uh, then when is that point, Bruce? Your squad has played the worst Giants baseball since Dave Bristol was calling the shots, and there seems to be a better attempt at making excuses than finding solutions.

There certainly doesn’t appear to be any urgency. By first pitch the team was well aware that the Dodgers, which started the night a half-game back, were beating the Phillies like they’d been caught behind the barn with their 16-year-old sister. They then proceeded to hit the field a lay an egg.

Jeff Samardzija (now 10-9 after starting 7-2), looks more like a $90 million mistake with every outing. He gave up single runs in each of the first two innings and was fortunate not to surrender more as his fastball (particularly out of the stretch) consistently floated up into the “kick me” part of the strike zone. A two-run single by Buster Posey, still nursing a cranky back, got the Giants even but he offense then went into hibernation against Pirates started Jameson Tallion.

Off topic, but the games are getting ugly we wanted to look at something pretty for awhile.

As  it turned out, good fortune (and Buster Posey) had the starting hurlers posting identical numbers (hits runs, three runs) which meant the bullpens were going to play a big factor. Despite a short run of effectiveness than has done nothing the quell the slide; the Pirates enjoyed a distinct advantage in that department.  Kang’s blast was the 41st the Giants have given up in the 29 games since the break.

What made is worse was it came despite the best efforts of the one guy who is performing.  Law walked Andrew McCutchen to lead off the eighth, and one out later Posey gunned down McCutchen trying to steal. Running the count to 1-2 pitch, Law shook off Posey’s call for a slider and served up afastball that wound up finding the netting of the sustainable garden behind center field.

If you weren’t pissed off yet, you were about to be. Pinch-hitter Trevor Brown reached on an error and Joe Panik double to left to put tying and winning runs in scoring position with one out. But the Giants don’t get those clutch hits any more. A well-placed out would have tied it and a hit send the fans home happy, but Ehire Adrianza popped out and Denard Span grounded out to end the game: those were the Giants’ ninth and 10^th RISP failures in 11 opportunities.

The saving grace is that the Giants don’t have to dwell on the loss (we’ve said that a lot lately), with day baseball set for Wednesday. Matt Cain (4-7, 5.47 ERA) getting the call against Ivan Nova (9-6, 4.68) in the series finale.

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