BOX SCORE
SAN FRANCISCO — The Giants had a good road trip, but given their place in the NL playoff standings, they really needed it to be great.
A comeback attempt fell short Sunday in St. Louis as the Giants lost 4-3, finishing with a series loss to the Cardinals after sweeping the Colorado Rockies. On back-to-back days, they failed to capitalize on losses by the New York Mets.
The hottest lineup in the league got off to a slow start Sunday. Sonny Gray had a no-hitter going until the sixth, when he issued back-to-back walks to the bottom of the lineup. With one out, he hung a changeup to Rafael Devers, and the 104 mph single up the middle got the Giants on the board and ended the no-hit bid. Gray wouldn’t make it out of the inning.
The Giants trailed 4-0 before Devers’ single, but Dominic Smith and Matt Chapman got two more runs back with singles of their own. They wouldn’t score again.
Casey Schmitt blooped a single to lead off the ninth but right fielder Nathan Church made a diving catch to rob Drew Gilbert and keep the Giants from putting runners on the corners with no outs. Patrick Bailey’s double play ended the game and dropped the Giants back to 72-71. They remain four back of the Mets with just 19 games remaining.
Here are the takeaways from the Giants’ second consecutive loss.
Mr. 100
Devers’ single in the sixth got him to 100 RBI on the season: 58 with Boston and 42 with San Francisco. This is his fourth 100-RBI season in the big leagues and he became the seventh big leaguer to hit the mark this year.
The Giants’ RBI leader last year was Chapman with 78, and you have to go back to 2012 to find the last time they had someone reach 100. That season, it was NL MVP — and now, Devers’ boss — Buster Posey, who finished with 103 RBI. Before that, you have to go back to Barry Bonds in 2004.
Devers will enter next season with a good shot at becoming the first Giant since that 2004 Bonds season to reach 30 homers. He also could become the rare Giant to reach 100 RBI in orange and black. Only three — Posey, Bonds and Jeff Kent — have done it since Oracle Park opened.
Kai-Wei’s Day
For four innings, Kai-Wei Teng was keeping pace with Gray, but his day came to a quick end in the fifth. Teng walked the bases loaded and then gave up an RBI single before getting lifted. All four of those batters ended up scoring, putting four runs on his line.
Teng started twice on the road trip and continued to show that he has the stuff to get big league hitters out, but also has some development ahead. He gave up six runs in 9 1/3 innings on the trip, but also struck out 16. After he didn’t issue a walk at Coors Field, Teng had five of them Sunday.
Overall, Teng has 28 strikeouts in 22 2/3 innings. The Giants need him and Carson Seymour in their rotation right now because of injuries, but both are also auditioning to be in the mix for bullpen spots next spring, and Teng’s ability to pile up strikeouts has certainly helped his cause.
Postseason Update
After holding on with the bases loaded Friday night, the Mets dropped back-to-back games in Cincinnati. The Reds looked like they might drop out of the race, but they’re now just four back after the series victory.
The Giants’ win on Friday night at least made the NL West standings mildly interesting, as both the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres were riding losing streaks of at least four games. The Dodgers kept their skid going Saturday in a historic way; Yoshinobu Yamamoto lost his no-hitter with two outs in the ninth and the Dodgers ended up allowing four runs and getting walked off. But they recovered Sunday behind Clayton Kershaw and they’re seven up on the Giants, with seven meetings to go between the two.
The Giants now return home to face the Arizona Diamondbacks — who also are hanging around — and the Dodgers. The Mets will visit Philadelphia for a huge four-game series and the Reds will head to San Diego for another series with big-time playoff implications.
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