(09-09) 23:58 PDT -- These are not the elimination games the Giants wanted to be playing.
Last fall, they were unbeatable in elimination games, the type that kept them alive in the postseason. Knowing a loss would send them home, they beat the Reds and Cardinals three times apiece on their road to the World Series.
The elimination games they're in now? The worst kind. The kind they don't care to monitor.
In walk-off fashion on a foggy Monday evening in China Basin,Cheap Patriots Jersey, the Giants beat the Rockies 3-2 on Brandon Belt's 10th-inning single but were eliminated in the race, which they weren't really in since July. What everyone already had known, the math made official when the first-place Dodgers finished their 8-1 victory over the .
That happened in Los Angeles, just before legged out an infield single in the 10th inning in San Francisco. Pagan took third on 's single and scored when Belt, who tied the game with an RBI double in the eighth,Wholesale Patriots Hats, hit an untouched liner to left-center.
With 18 games remaining, the Giants are 19 1/2 games behind the Dodgers, who probably imagine bigger and better conquests than simply phasing out their last-place rivals.
"They did the exact opposite of what we did. They just took off," Belt said of the Dodgers. "We want to finish as strong as possible. We're not just professionals, we're competitors,New England Patriots Jersey, too."
For the record,San Francisco 49ers – Niner Insider Blog , the defending champs are on the verge of also getting eliminated from the wild-card race. That could come as early as Tuesday. So their only race is the race to avoid finishing fifth in a five-team division.
They're a half-game out of fourth place and one game out of third, so it's not as if there's nothing to play for.
"I don't think anybody ever wants to finish last," Belt said. "Shoot, we might be out of the division, but I don't see why we can't make a run at maybe taking second. Just have some goals in mind, help us finish strong."
The Giants are 7 1/2 games behind second-place Arizona.
"We come in here with a purpose every game regardless of the standings," said , who received a lot of support from third baseman (super range on several plays) and surrendered two runs in eight innings, the first time he pitched that long while striking out as few as three batters.
Buster Posey, playing catcher for the first time since breaking a bone in his right ring finger a week ago, homered to open the second inning, his first homer since July 20. Pablo Sandoval followed with a double - it actually was a flyball that left fielder let drop, saying he misinterpreted what he heard from center fielder .
The Rockies' first run came on a play the Giants botched. hit a ball a few feet to the right side, and Posey threw him out. Nolan Arenado scored from second because nobody (including Lincecum) covered home.
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