SAN FRANCISCO _ There are three possibilities for Jeff Samardzija's next start:
It could come against the Chicago Cubs in an NL Division Series (Game 2 at Wrigley, perhaps). It could come on Monday, should the San Francisco Giants require a tiebreaker victory to secure a place in the wild card game.
The third possibility? 2017.
The Giants do not want to consider the third possibility, but without a consistent offense, their playoff condition is far from stable. And on a chilly Wednesday night when they could have taken charge, their lineup couldn't back Samardzija in a 2-0 loss to the Colorado Rockies at AT&T Park.
The Giants (83-75) collected just five hits and Buster Posey grounded out with runners at the corners in the ninth as they let slip a chance to seize a grip on the second wild card ducat, at least. Instead, they lost ground to the New York Mets and trail them by 1 { games. The St. Louis Cardinals, who lost to the Cincinnati Reds, remained one game behind the Giants with four to play.
If the Giants and Cardinals were to tie for the second wild card spot, a play-in game would take place Monday in St. Louis. Barring a change, Samardzija would be the only fully rested starting pitcher available.
The way Samardzija is throwing, there are worse thoughts than sending him to the mound in a do-or-die game. The right-hander flashed dominant stuff in six-plus innings while striking out 11 _ his most in a game in more than three years.
But the Rockies' Nolan Arenado collected an RBI with a broken-bat single in the fourth inning, and Colorado went double/single to knock Samardzija from the game in the seventh.
A huddled crowd cheered Samardzija (12-11) as he walked off the mound. In his first season after signing a five-year, $90 million contract, he posted a 3.81 ERA in 203 1/3 innings _ the fifth consecutive season that he reached the 200 mark.
It was a major improvement for a pitcher the Giants bet on big after he had led the AL in hits and earned runs with the Chicago White Sox the previous season.
Giants manager Bruce Bochy made no changes to a lineup that collected 10 extra-base hits on the way to 12 runs Tuesday night. When you get boxcars, you roll the same dice.
But Tyler Chatwood was not a 21-year-old rookie making his second big league start. He had proved a tough nut in three outings against the Giants this season, and had a 2.77 ERA in five career starts at AT&T Park.
The climate was a bit less hospitable for hitters, too. The temperature at first pitch was 55 degrees _ the coldest in more than a year _ and fog blurred the top of the light standards in center field.
The Giants' attempts at sustaining a rally were just as hazy. They got the leadoff hitter on base in five of Chatwood's eight innings, but failed to advance any of them into scoring position.
Efforts to jumpstart rallies on the bases ended with mouthfuls of dirt. Denard Span led off the first inning with a single but was thrown out with relative ease while trying to steal by catcher Tony Wolters.
Conor Gillaspie hit a leadoff single in the third, but Bochy opted to have Samardzija pull back his bunt attempt and take a lash at a 3-1 pitch. The pitcher swung through it, and Wolters threw out Gillaspie by plenty.
Brandon Belt drew a leadoff walk in the seventh _ his 100th of the season, the first Giant to reach that benchmark since Barry Bonds in 2007 _ but Posey grounded into his 18th double play.
Brandon Crawford walked to start the eighth, but Angel Pagan practically got the bat knocked out of his hands while rolling meekly to second base for a double play.
They had their best chance of the night in the ninth. Posey batted with runners at the corners and two outs after Kelby Tomlinson hit a leadoff double and Belt reached on an infield single when pitcher Boone Logan failed to cover first base.
Posey battled sidearm closer Adam Ottavino for eight pitches and grounded the last one down the third base line, where Arenado handled it and threw across the diamond to send a groaning crowd to the exits.
The Giants are now 0-62 when they trail entering the ninth inning.
Samardzija pitched well enough to win, and a bullpen triad of Steven Okert, Hunter Strickland and Will Smith kept the Rockies from stretching their lead.
Samardzija, who struck out the side in the fifth, might have done his best work in the sixth inning, when Charlie Blackmon singled and the Rockies successfully put him in motion to get runners at the corners with one out. Carlos Gonzalez hit a ground ball single to the hole that shortstop Brandon Crawford had just vacated as he went to cover second base.
But Samardzija recovered by getting Arenado to ground into an inning-ending double play.
It was one of the few times when the Giants were able to defuse Arenado, whose broken-bat hit in the fourth accounted for his 23rd RBI against them this season. It was the second most RBIs that an opponent has driven in against the Giants in the past 13 seasons. The only player with more? Arenado, with 24 last year.
