Giants eliminated in NL West with loss to Phillies, race is on to draft first

SAN FRANCISCO — The Giants were more or less finished in the NL West by early May, their flagging hopes in a sling along with Madison Bumgarner’s throwing shoulder.

They truly plummeted in the standings in June. When they were swept at Dodger Stadium at the end of July, they had fallen further out of first place than any time in the franchise’s San Francisco era.

They’ve known their fate for months. It doesn’t make the splat any less pleasant to witness.

Hunter Strickland was summoned to protect a one-run lead in the eighth inning, the Philadelphia Phillies collected five consecutive singles and the Giants were officially eliminated from the NL West with a 5-2 loss at AT&T Park on Sunday.

Bumgarner held the Phillies to a run in six innings while throwing 111 pitches – his heaviest workload in eight starts since returning from the separated shoulder he sustained in an April 20 dirt bike accident. Left fielder Jarrett Parker threw out a runner at the plate to coax Mark Melancon through a scoreless seventh inning.

But the Giants could not survive a barrage of singles against Strickland, as they were eliminated while losing to the one team in the major leagues that has a worse winning percentage.

The race to the bottom, then, is on: Three games separate the Giants (50-76) and Phillies (44-78) for the right to pick first in the draft next June.

Not that the coaches or players are seeing it that way.

“You know, we’ve talked about this as a group here: we’re not in a good situation, but our job is to come out here and give it everything we have,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “I thought these games were good ballgames. Today’s game, it was a tie game and it got away from us. You could feel the energy in the dugout.

“It hasn’t been a good year for us. We know it. But still, our job is to come out here and beat the Phillies. The last thing we want to do is finish at the bottom, too.”

The NL West race has been long decided. The Giants are 39 games out with 36 to play, and while there is no underselling the disappointment at China Basin this season, their failures cannot fully explain the near-impossibility of getting eliminated on Aug. 20.

The NL West-leading Dodgers have swung the pendulum so hard that the cabinet fell over. Consider that the second-place the Colorado Rockies lead the NL Wild Card picture and yet are 19 ½ games out of first.

The Giants have six more games to serve as the Dodgers’ sparring partner. The series this weekend included an opponent nearer to their weight class. Yet despite a strong start from Bumgarner that also included an RBI single, they could only manage to split the series.

The Phillies took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Pedro Florimon hit an RBI double, and the Giants were denied when they attempted to tie with some aggressiveness on the bases.

Buster Posey doubled and third base coach Phil Nevin sent him home on Brandon Crawford’s single – a dubious decision with no outs, but one that was understandable given that Florimon was making his first career start as a left fielder.

Florimon made an accurate throw to the plate, though, and Nevin understood what his predecessors learned too well: best to hold Buster unless you’re certain.

But Posey tied it in the fourth when his single scored a speedier runner, Kelby Tomlinson, from second base. And they went ahead in the fifth when Ryder Jones doubled and Nevin gambled that Florimon couldn’t burn him twice.

Nevin sent Jones home on Bumgarner’s two-out single, and this time Florimon’s throw was off line as the Giants took a 2-1 lead.

Bumgarner pitched a scoreless sixth inning, and although he held the Phillies to four hits while striking out seven, there was no justification to put additional timber on his shoulders.

“I think he’s back to normal,” Bochy said. “He takes care of himself as well as any athlete I’ve had as far as how he prepares, his work ethic in between starts. Really, I don’t see anything different than what he was before the accident. He’s good to go now.

“We pushed him a little bit today, but I didn’t have any concerns with him.”

Melancon, who has yet to reclaim his closer role while pitching through elbow discomfort, needed a strong throw from Parker and a deft tag from Posey to avoid letting the tying run score in the seventh.

It was Parker’s fourth outfield assist, which leads the team – even though he has started just 23 games all season.

But then came those five hits in a row against Strickland, including a two-strike fastball that Florimon lined to right field for a tiebreaking, two-run single. The inning ended after right fielder Gorkys Hernandez picked up yet another single and threw out a runner at the plate.

Posey spun around in apparent discomfort as he applied the tag but remained in the game. He would feel more pain, though, when Phillies reliever Hector Neris drilled him in the ribs with a pitch in the eighth.

Posey walked onto the grass and appeared to have words with Neris, and it was understandable if he was just tired of getting pitched inside. Earlier in the game, Posey got brushed back by Phillies starter Ben Lively. And much earlier this season, an inside pitch off the helmet put him on the concussion list.

Afterward, Posey broke from his usual diplomacy and accused Neris of throwing at him.

“I’m pretty certain he hit me on purpose and it’s just a shame, because I wanted to compete in that at-bat,” Posey said. “I guess he didn’t feel like he could get me out.”

Neris, who struck out Pablo Sandoval to strand the bases loaded in the eighth, said it would’ve been “stupid” to enter the game only to hit a batter to move the tying run into scoring position.

“No chance,” Neris said. “I don’t want to put a guy at third base. I’m attacking the hitter because I want a double play.”

Neris might have forgotten he entered with two outs. Regardless, he said he didn’t respond when Posey asked if the pitch was intentional.

“No, no, I respect everybody,” Neris said. “I do my job there. I don’t say anything to anybody. He said something but I didn’t pay attention to that. I take my ball and go to the mound.”

The Giants had the tying runs on base in the ninth when Neris got Hunter Pence to hit into a forceout at the plate, then Denard Span struck out to end it.

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