SAN FRANCISCO -- You might say that Giants manager Bruce Bochy feels hamstrung, though he'd probably prefer not to use a body part as an expression to describe his club's injury predicament.
Given the Giants' shortage of able-bodied position players, they might be fortunate that the 2-1 setback they were dealt Tuesday by the Los Angeles Dodgers did not extend into extra innings. With their luck, they just might have run out of players.
"We were a little short there at the end, with the injuries we're dealing with," Bochy said. For instance, he explained, he couldn't use a pinch-runner for Buster Posey after he rapped a two-out single in the eighth inning. That's basic strategy most managers would employ.
"These little things," Bochy said, "probably caught up with us at the end."
One factor wasn't so little: the right groin strain that shortstop Brandon Crawford sustained while rounding first base in the eighth inning.

The Giants were due to lose Crawford for at least the next two games while he attends his sister-in-law's funeral. He's allowed to take three days off and go on the bereavement list, which would enable the Giants to add a player and replenish their bench somewhat. But Bochy said Crawford wasn't sure whether he'd use the third day.
Depending on the condition of his groin, Crawford might need the rest.
"At this point, I'd put him at day to day," Bochy said. The Giants intended to schedule an MRI examination for Crawford to determine the injury's extent before he departs.

"It tightened up on me," Crawford said. "I've never had anything like that before. I didn't feel a pop or anything like that, so from what I hear, that's good news."
Before he was injured, Crawford was performing at his usual level. He singled off reliever Pedro Baez in the eighth as the Giants mounted an ultimately fruitless rally. And he nearly turned what would have been a dazzling double play in the fourth inning.
With runners at the corners, nobody out and a run in, Adrian Gonzalez hit a grounder to Posey, who moved to first base so another right-handed batter, catcher Nick Hundley, could get in the game against left-handed Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw. Posey glanced briefly at Justin Turner, the runner at third, to hold him there, then threw to second base for a forceout.
Immediately upon taking Posey's relay, Crawford fired the ball home and might have nabbed the sliding Turner. But his low throw handcuffed Hundley, who couldn't hold on to the ball long enough to make the tag.
"That's not an easy play with a catcher's glove on to try to make tht swipe tag while trying to dig [the ball] out of the dirt," Crawford said. "I'd like to say I should have made a better throw, but I got rid of it as fast as I could and put as much behind it as I could. It's one of those things where it's worth the risk to try to get the runner at home."