SF Giants drop two of three to Cardinals, prepare for crucial six-game homestand

ST. LOUIS — In a vacuum, the Giants had an acceptable road trip. They dropped the rubber match to the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday at Busch Stadium, but with a sweep of the Colorado Rockies, they’ll fly home with four wins to two losses.

The Giants do not exist in a vacuum. With 19 games remaining and a record of 72-71, acceptable is not enough. They had an opportunity in St. Louis to inch closer to that final NL wild card spot, but Saturday’s walk-off loss combined with Sunday’s 4-3 loss leaves them four games behind the New York Mets.

“Normally, you think a 4-2 trip is not a bad trip, but in our position right now, we have to win more games than that,” said manager Bob Melvin. “After winning the first game, winning one of these next two was important. But, go home and play well again.”

Now, they enter their most important homestand of the season: Three games against the surging Arizona Diamondbacks, who are making their own late push for the final wild card spot, and three games against the Los Angeles Dodgers, who are clinging to the division lead.

San Francisco has revived its playoff hopes over the last two-and-a-half weeks, winning 11 of its last 15 games even after dropping two of three to the Cardinals. A good homestand will keep the Giants in the hunt, especially if the Mets continue to stumble. A bad homestand could see their playoff odds fall closer to zero.

“We battled our (butts) off yesterday and today and came up short, but we still got a chance,” said third baseman Matt Chapman, who went 1-for-3 with an RBI. “We didn’t think we’d be in this position probably two weeks ago, but here we are. We still have a really good opportunity in front of us. It stings. The last two days suck, but we’ll be ready tomorrow.

“We have a lot of big games coming up. A lot of good stuff can happen still. We saw how fast things can change in a couple weeks. So, that’s kind of the mindset. We still control our own destiny.”

To Chapman’s point, the Giants only control their destiny to a certain degree. They’ll need to stack wins, but they’ll also need the teams ahead of them in the standings to stack losses. The Mets have a tough stretch awaiting, slated to play four games on the road against the Phillies, then three games apiece at home against the Rangers and Padres.

When the Giants return home, there’s a possibility that they’ll be without Chapman for their series opener against the Dodgers.

Chapman has a virtual hearing with Major League Baseball on Thursday regarding his one-game suspension for his role in last Tuesday’s benches-clearing incident with the Colorado Rockies. If the suspension isn’t dropped, Chapman will sit out on Friday against Los Angeles.

Chapman believes he has a “good shot” at winning his appeal, pointing out that he already missed a full game on Tuesday since he was ejected before taking an at-bat or playing defense.

Losing Chapman for a game would be a brutal blow for a team that needs everything to go right. This season, the Giants are 60-49 in games where Chapman plays compared to 12-21 in games he sits.

“I’ve talked to the (MLB Players Association) and Buster (Posey), but nothing in great detail,” Chapman said. “I’m sure I’ll know more as it gets closer. I feel like we have a good shot. I already sat out a game. I wasn’t trying to instigate a fight; I was just trying to defend my teammates. Hopefully, they can see where I was coming from.”

Kai-Wei Teng and Sonny Gray traded zeros for the first four innings of Sunday’s contest, but St. Louis erupted for four runs in the fifth when Teng suddenly lost his command.

The right-hander began the inning by walking the Cardinals’ Nos. 7, 8 and 9 hitters, setting the table for the top of the order. Lars Nootbaar’s RBI single broke the scoreless tie, knocking Teng out of the game in the process. Right-handed reliever José Buttó then  allowed all three inherited runners to score, and St. Louis led 4-0.

Teng ended his afternoon having allowed four runs over four-plus innings with eight strikeouts and five walks, a sour end to a great beginning. The right-hander said he felt “a bit tired” in the fifth inning, a fatigue he attributes to starting the season as a reliever with Triple-A Sacramento.

“I was always training as a reliever, then I turned (back) into a starter in the middle of the season,” Teng said through team interpreter Andy Lin. “I have to try to gain my pitch count … and start doing a starter’s weight training.”

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The Giants had their response in the sixth. Gray began the inning by walking both Drew Gilbert and Knizner, gifting San Francisco a rally. After Gray struck out Heliot Ramos, Rafael Devers recorded the Giants’ first hit of the day with a single that drove in Gilbert to cut the deficit to 4-1.

Following Devers’ RBI single, Willy Adames drew a walk to load the bases, then Dominic Smith drove in another run with a single that ended Gray’s afternoon.

The Giants got within one run when Chapman knocked in Devers with a single against reliever Matt Svanson, but Svanson maintained the Cardinals’ lead by retiring Jung Hoo Lee and Casey Schmitt. That would be as close as San Francisco would get to tying the game.