1. Giants' second-half collapse starting to feel epic in nature. For a team that supposedly just knows how to win -- three World Series titles in six seasons! -- they've apparently forgotten how to win. It's almost like what has happened in the past hasn't really affected the current season. After their epic blown save Tuesday night, the Giants responded with a 3-1 loss to the Padres as Luis Perdomo outpitched Madison Bumgarner. They scored just five runs in the three-game series, and the Padres swept them in San Francisco for the first time since May 2010. The Giants fell to 20-35 since the All-Star break, including 5-8 in September. They're hitting .217/.288/.339 this month, with Buster Posey, Brandon Crawford, Angel Pagan and Denard Span all under .200.

I threw this out on Twitter: If the Giants fade from the best record at the All-Star break to missing the playoffs altogether, how would that rank on the all-time list of collapses? Some nominees that were suggested:

2014 A's: They had MLB's best record at the break at 59-36 and went 29-38 in the second half. That .433 winning percentage is still better than the Giants' .364 mark. Plus, the A's at least held on for a wild card (though they squandered a late lead in the wild-card game to the Royals).

2012 Rangers: They had the second-best record at the break, a half-game behind the Yankees, and went 41-35 in the second half. What they did was blow a four-game division lead to the A's with six to play, although they also advanced to the wild-card game.

2011 Red Sox: One of the great September collapses, the Red Sox began the month 1½ games up in the AL East and nine games up in the wild card over the Rays. They went 7-20 and lost out on a playoff berth on that dramatic final day of the season.

2011 Braves: They had the NL's second-best record at the break and an 8½-game lead in the wild card entering September, before going 9-18 the final month and missing the playoffs. Certainly one of the bigger September collapses in history.

2007 Mets: Another late collapse more than a slow fade, the Mets blew a 7-game lead over their final 17 games, including a 1-6 record over their final seven games. They did miss the playoffs in the one-wild-card era.

1995 Angels: They held a 10½-game lead in the division on Aug. 15 and soon went on a 6-24 stretch that included two nine-game losing streaks. They actually finished over .500 in the second half, but missed the postseason when they lost a one-game tiebreaker to the Mariners.

1978 Red Sox: The long, slow, torturous collapse. The Red Sox peaked with a 10-game lead on July 8 and were up nine games a day later at the All-Star break, with a 57-26 record. To be fair, this was more about the Yankees getting red hot. The Red Sox went 42-38 in the second half and actually won their final eight games to force the famous tiebreaker game with the Yankees.

1969 Cubs: They were 61-37 (.622) at the break and went 31-33 after that as the Miracle Mets soared past them to win the NL East. Still, 31-33 is a better than 20-35.

It's important to note that some of those earlier teams didn't have a wild-card spot to fall back on, let alone two. That's what makes this potential collapse a different beast. At the break, when FiveThirtyEight projected their playoff odds at 96 percent, the Giants were on pace to win 102 games. Now they're at 77 wins with 17 left to play (although still have playoff odds of 66 percent).

The good news: The Mets and Cardinals also lost Wednesday, so the Giants retain their wild-card lead, a half-game over the Mets and a full game over the Cardinals. And Thursday, they begin a four-game series against St. Louis. Of course, Giants fans would argue that this wouldn't even be the biggest collapse in the Bay Area this year. The Warriors, after all, lost a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals.

Giants lose. Mets lose. Cardinals lose. Pennant fever: catch it. — Andrew Baggarly (@extrabaggs) September 14, 2016

2. The Orioles might have an ace. The Orioles' handling of Kevin Gausman through the years has been a little curious, but he has never quite put everything together. Until now. He threw 120 pitches in eight scoreless innings against the Red Sox, his fourth start in five outings with no runs allowed. Buck Showalter showed supreme confidence in sticking with him in a 1-0 game, and you can see why: Gausman's final pitch to Xander Bogaerts was 99 mph. Zach Britton finished off the victory, recording his 43rd save in 43 chances. The Orioles climbed to one game behind the Red Sox.

Kevin Gausman (@Orioles) has 5 scoreless starts of at least 7 IP this season, tied with Masahiro Tanaka for most in the AL — ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) September 15, 2016

3. Josh Donaldson's hip injury requires an MRI. Donaldson, who is 3-for-31 without an RBI in September, sat for a third straight game, and the Blue Jays gave him an MRI on Wednesday. With an 8-1 loss to the Rays, the Jays fell to 3-9 their past 12 games and fell behind the Orioles into the second wild-card spot, one game up on the Tigers. In off-the-field news, they hired former Red Sox GM Ben Cherington as VP of baseball operations. Hey, Ivy League grad gets front-office job in baseball!

4. Clayton Kershaw looked like Clayton Kershaw. He went only five innings and threw 64 pitches because of a rain delay in his second start back from his lengthy DL stint, but Kershaw dominated in his short outing against the Yankees, allowing just one hit with five strikeouts. The Dodgers pushed across two runs in the ninth with help from two Yankees errors to win 2-0.

Justin Turner on Kershaw tonight: "It looked like the Clayton Kershaw we all know tonight. So that's a positive sign." #Dodgers — Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) September 15, 2016

5. The Twins do not play spoilers again. They led the Tigers 5-2 after scoring five runs off Anibal Sanchez in the top of the fourth, but Tyler Duffey then coughed up four runs in the bottom of the inning. Miguel Cabrera would then break a 6-6 tie in the seventh with a home run off Ryan Pressly. The Detroit bullpen tossed five scoreless innings in the 9-6 win. Sanchez allowed six runs in four innings. How often does a team win when the starter allows exactly six runs over four or fewer innings? Not very often. That had happened 102 times before Wednesday, and that team had gone 14-88.