CHICAGO -- Of all the things that could stand out to Giants manager Bruce Bochy in a game that featured 23 runs, 27 hits, 291 pitches, seven home runs and six lead changes, it's the little things that loom the largest.

Those little things could have turned what was potentially the Giants' biggest victory of the season into their toughest defeat, as they fell to the Cubs in a wild 12-11 slugfest Wednesday night at Wrigley Field. The loss pushes the Giants to five games behind the Cardinals for the second National League Wild Card spot.

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"Just little things in a game like that," Bochy said. "I'd rather look at how hard we fought, but [the Cubs] did too. I've seen games like this at Wrigley. Those are games we've been winning, and we let it get away from us. It's a tough one for them, believe me."

Every game for San Francisco over the last six weeks of the season is essentially a playoff game. The Giants are clinging to their postseason hopes by a thread, and in a loud, postseason-like environment, they played like everything was on the line.

They didn't give in after falling behind early -- starter Dereck Rodríguez was roughed up over four innings -- taking the lead courtesy of a five-run sixth inning with the help of back-to-back homers by Stephen Vogt and Kevin Pillar.

The Giants' bullpen surrendered the lead in the bottom of the sixth, but it didn't stop the Giants from putting together another rally to retake the lead, 11-10, on Brandon Belt's sacrifice fly in the seventh.

"It seemed like whoever got the hit last was going to win," Vogt said. "We did a lot of good things offensively. The ball flies here."

Vogt (2-for-5) was one of the catalysts for the Giants, hitting one of the team's four homers during its offensive explosion, along with Pillar, Evan Longoria and Mike Yastrzemski.

Despite all of the Giants' fight, heart and rallies, Kris Bryant's go-ahead two-run homer off reliever Reyes Moronta in the eighth inning would be the knockout blow.

"We had our guy on the mound in the eighth inning. Reyes just made a mistake there. Sometimes this park plays like Coors Field," Bochy said. "The ball is flying, but that's what you try to stay away from."

"We've been able to take a punch and come back and score three. And they score five, we scored three. I don't know what it was, but it was just back and forth," Bryant said. "And you've got to give credit to them, too. They were doing the same thing that we were doing. We just ended up on top tonight."

While the hard-fought attitude and spirit of a narrow defeat will carry them for a day, the Giants' reality is that they have dropped two games to a team ahead of them in the NL playoff picture.

"I honestly think, we've been playing pretty well," Belt said. "We have to continue to pitch well. We have to continue to hit well, like we're doing. Playing good defense. I know I'm pointing out all facets of the game, but that's what we have to do if we want to stay in the thick of it.

"We have to come out here and play our 'A' game every single night. We have to win series after series. It starts now."