SAN FRANCISCO - The Giants had an opportunity to make one last stand before the trade deadline. Instead, they now find themselves 6 1/2 games out of first place.
A night after wasting Dereck Rodriguez's strong effort, the Giants lost a Madison Bumgarner start. It's not quite Scoreboard Watching season, but the rotating tiles in right field weren't kind to the Giants, who fell back below .500 with a 3-1 loss to the Brewers. The Dodgers won in Atlanta, the Diamondbacks won in San Diego, and the Rockies beat the A's. The Giants trail all three by at least 4 1/2 games. This does not look like a team that's one addition away from making a charge and passing three others.
Here's what you need to know from the latest lackluster effort…
-- Bumgarner's last start included an odd stretch where he walked five of seven batters. The command was much better Friday, but a momentary blip got him into trouble. After an infield single by Keon Broxton to open the sixth, Bumgarner warned Christian Yelich on four pitches. Two groundouts tied the game.
-- It seems like the Giants go down quietly in the first three to four innings just about every night, but a couple of All-Stars provided Bumgarner with an early lead. Buster Posey doubled to lead off the second and raced home on Brandon Crawford's double into the gap. Crawford reached third with one out in the inning, but the guys behind him couldn't bring him home.
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-- Posey couldn't come through in the game's biggest spot. With two outs in the eighth, Steven Duggar and Alen Hanson singled and Andrew McCutchen drew a walk from Jeremy Jeffress. Posey grounded out softly to third, ending the threat.
-- Chase Anderson is a nice pitcher. The Giants continue to make nice pitchers look like aces. Anderson allowed just four hits and one run in six innings.
