Dbacks blank Giants, Bumgarner, 2-0

SAN FRANCISCO The San Francisco Giants couldn’t have picked a much worse time to see their offense shut down.

After scoring 7.67 runs on average in the first six games of this homestand, San Francisco ran afoul of Rubby De La Rosa and the Arizona bullpen in a 2-0 loss Friday that dealt a crippling blow to the Giants’ hopes of making it back to the postseason.

The Giants are 81/2 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West and nine games behind the Chicago Cubs for the second N.L. wild-card berth. With a mere 15 games left in the season, San Francisco is cooked save for a monster run down the stretch.

Worse yet, the Giants let a good if not great start from ace Madison Bumgarner go to waste. He allowed two runs in the sixth inning, only one of them earned. With the Giants’ offensive machine grinding to a halt, he was denied a hoped-for 19th win.

The Dodgers have 85 wins after dismantling the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday. The Giants have 77 wins, meaning even by winning their final 15, including four against the Dodgers, San Francisco can’t win more than 92 games. The Dodgers only have to go 8-8 in their final 16 games to capture the flag in the West.

Bumgarner allowed just five hits and three walks in eight innings in a performance that would have earned him a win on most nights. But it’s the second time in his last four starts that he’s allowed two runs and lost. And that goes not on him but on the Giants’ offense, which had no zip after a day off Thursday.

San Francisco got just one hit off De La Rosa, a single in the fourth from Matt Duffy, then another in the ninth by Buster Posey against closer Brad Ziegler.

The Giants did load the bases against De La Rosa in the sixth but did so without a hit a hit batter, a walk and, with first base open, an intentional walk to Posey giving the Giants a chance. But lefty reliever Andrew Chafin induced an inning-ending grounder from Brandon Belt.

Pinch-hitter Jarrett Parker appeared to have gotten one run back in the eighth, but center fielder A.J. Pollock’s terrific leaping catch at the wall denied Parker a homer.

The Diamondbacks’ rally began with a leadoff single from Pollock in the sixth. One out later, slugger Paul Goldschmidt doubled him to third. When left fielder Alejandro De Aza bobbled the pickup, Pollock scored and Goldschmidt wound up at third. Welington Castillo’s grounder to short got a second run home when shortstop Brandon Crawford’s throw to the plate was too late.

The loss was the 13th shutout thrown against the Giants this year. Four of those have come at the hands of the Diamondbacks, now 10-7 against San Francisco.

Crawford was back in the Giants’ lineup, his first appearance since Sept. 8 when he came out of a game against the Diamondbacks in the fourth inning after having struck out his first two at-bats. He went hitless in three at-bats as the Giants got just one hit. “It’s always good to see one of your core players get healthy and get back in the lineup,” manager Bruce Bochy said before the game. “(Ehire Adrianza) has done a nice job, playing some great defense, providing some offense. Still, it’s nice to have Crawford back.”

Giants starter Tim Hudson threw a bullpen session Friday and apparently is good to go for the start Sunday in the series finale against the Diamondbacks.

That would put him on track to pitch against the A’s the following Saturday in Oakland. The question is whether or not the A’s will counter with Barry Zito. He was part of the Big Three in the Oakland rotation along with Hudson and Mark Mulder from 2000-04.

Bochy said “it would be pretty cool if (Hudson) could end his career where he started it.”

The manager hinted that only Hudson’s ongoing hip injury issues would get in the way, and Hudson’s side session Friday seem to give him the go-ahead.

Hunter Pence, dealing with an oblique injury, had been taking some dry swings, but the Giants had him shut that down, even for the day. “We’re going to hold him back from that,” Bochy said. “We don’t think he’s quite ready yet. It’s been slow progress.”

Bochy said he had no new news on his two players suffering from concussion issues, outfielders Nori Aoki and Gregor Blanco. He did say that Aoki is closer to a return than Blanco. “I think there is a possibility,” Bochy said. “I wouldn’t be surprised to see Nori available the last week.”

The Giants had a day off Thursday and have another Monday. Bochy said Posey was the only player who really needed a day off, and that he would love to have had the Giants get one of those days off when the roster was limited to 25 players midseason. San Francisco currently has 32 players on the roster.

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