Giants' 3-month reign atop NL West ends
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SAN FRANCISCO -- The Giants no longer have the best record in the Majors, and they’ve lost their hold on first place in the NL West as well.
Yet with a month left in the regular season, All-Star right-hander Kevin Gausman doesn’t seem too concerned.
“We kind of all knew at some point we were going to get tested,” Gausman said following San Francisco’s 5-2 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday night. “It was kind of too good to be true, the way that we were rolling. All of us knew we were going to have a four- or possibly a five-game skid at some point.”
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The Giants had been the best team in baseball for most of the season and had a five-game lead over the Dodgers as recently as Aug. 13. Since then San Francisco has gone 9-8.
The loss to the Brewers was the Giants’ fourth straight and knocked them out of first place in the NL West for the first time in more than three months.
“Anytime you have a little losing streak it’s not fun,” said catcher Buster Posey, who is batting .137 (7-for-51) over his last 14 games. “But this group’s shown an ability to bounce back throughout the year and that’s just what you have to believe that you’re going to do. We’ve been playing some really good teams, some good pitching and that’s going to continue and hopefully continue in the playoffs as well.
“It’s just a matter of showing up each day and competing. It’s really as simple as that.”
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Kris Bryant had two hits and an RBI but the Giants failed to capitalize on multiple scoring opportunities. San Francisco also struck out 13 times and has whiffed 28 times over the last two games.
On a night when Gausman pitched well and had seven strikeouts in five innings, the Giants bullpen couldn’t sustain the momentum either.
Jace Peterson’s two-out RBI single off José Álvarez in the seventh provided the tiebreaking run. Álvarez entered the game after Dominic Leone (3-3) walked Lorenzo Cain and gave up an infield single to Jackie Bradley Jr.
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The Giants, who stranded seven runners in scoring position, have lost five of six. They fell a half-game behind the Dodgers in the NL West, the first time since May 30 that manager Gabe Kapler’s ballclub has not been in front.
“We can play better baseball all the way around,” said Kapler, whose team has been outscored 23-5 during the losing streak. “We’re not getting enough big hits. Obviously we’re not playing tight enough defense. We’re not making enough pitches, and ultimately when we get some rallies going we’re just not able to complete those. That’s hurt us.”
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Still, Kapler is preaching patience.
“Now is the right time to really show a sense of urgency, continue to dig in on our process but also not to have any panic,” Kapler said. “There’s no need for that. It’s just a balance between urgency and hanging in there with a really, really good team and a good process that’s been strong for a really long time.”