Giants win on Belt's game-ending hit in 10th
The San Francisco Giants will not repeat as champion of the NL West, and it's a pretty safe bet the defending World Series champs will be eliminated from playoff contention altogether fairly soon.
They're not going quietly, however.
Brandon Belt's RBI single with one out in the bottom of the 10th inning gave San Francisco a 3-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Monday night, the second straight walkoff win for manager Bruce Bochy's team.
''We want to finish the season on a positive note heading into next year,'' Bochy said. ''It's all about playing better baseball. We're playing like the team that we are now. It's all about pride.''
The Giants were knocked out of contention in the NL West earlier in the evening when the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks.
San Francisco is still on the brink of being eliminated from playoff contention altogether with one more loss.
That's why Bochy has emphasized finishing the season strong to his club.
''It's extremely important,'' said starting pitcher Tim Lincecum, who went eight innings but left with no-decision. ''It's nice to see guys coming through. They're battling. We come here with a purpose regardless of the standings.''
Angel Pagan, who had the game-winning hit in the 11th inning against Arizona on Sunday, hit one-out single off reliever Adam Ottavino (1-3) in the 10th and took third on Marco Scutaro's single.
With Colorado's defense drawn in, Belt - who doubled in the tying run in the eighth - hit a 1-2 pitch over the head of left fielder Charlie Culberson for his second game-ending hit this season.
''The whole at-bat I was looking for something up in the zone,'' Belt said. ''Once I got two strikes, I was just trying to put the ball in play.''
D.J. LeMahieu singled and doubled to extend his career-high hitting streak to 11 games, and Nolan Arenado scored from second base on an infield groundout for the Rockies.
Colorado fell to 5-9 in extra innings this season.
''We've struggled to score on the road this year and that's been the trend here,'' Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. ''When you score two runs, like we've done a handful of times already on this team, that makes it tough to win games.''
Santiago Casilla (6-2) retired one batter for the win.
Buster Posey hit his 15th home run of the season for San Francisco, which was kept in check offensively most of the game by Colorado starter Jhoulys Chacin.
Chacin struck out five and walked one over seven innings, lowering his ERA in 12 starts on the road to 2.10. The right-hander retired 16 of the final 18 he faced and left with a 2-1 lead.
Colorado's bullpen couldn't make it hold up.
Pagan reached on a one-out infield single off Matt Belisle in the eighth and took second when Arenado's throw from third sailed past first base for an error. After Scutaro's groundout moved Pagan to third, Belt doubled to right to drive in Pagan with the tying run.
Lincecum allowed two runs over eight innings but was denied a chance at his fourth consecutive win. The two-time NL Cy Young winner struck out three and walked one.
The Rockies scored their first run after a defensive breakdown by the Giants.
Arenado doubled in the second and was headed for third on Yorvit Torrealba's slow roller between the mound and first base when he noticed no one covering home. Arenado quickly scampered home, and with no one covering, San Francisco first baseman Belt's throw sailed to the backstop.
After Posey's homer tied it, the Rockies made their own defensive gaffe.
As fogged drifted over the waterfront ballpark, Pablo Sandoval lofted a high fly ball to left center. Colorado's Corey Dickerson ran toward the warning track but inexplicably stopped and let the ball drop in as Sandoval raced to second with a double.
Colorado went up 2-1 on Troy Tulowitzki's RBI single in third.
NOTES: Giants pitchers Chad Gaudin and Jeremy Affeldt threw to hitters before the game, and Bochy said both are close to being ready to come off the DL. ... Belt was hitless in his first three at-bats before driving in the tying and winning runs. ... San Francisco has 11 walkoff wins this season. ... Hunter Pence had reached base safely in 18 straight games before going hitless in four at-bats.