SF Giants drop 80th game of season in lifeless 4-0 loss to Padres

The SF Giants lost to the San Diego Padres 4-0 on Tuesday night, falling to 78-80 on the season and putting them in a tie with the Padres for third place in the National League West. The loss did not quite eliminate San Francisco from postseason contention, but it would require the most unlikely series events the last week of the regular season has probably ever seen. It reaffirmed that their battle with the Padres for third place is the only race they can win.

Top pitching prospect Kyle Harrison was scratched from his start on Tuesday and replaced by opener John Brebbia, who allowed one run before manager Gabe Kapler called upon Alex Wood. Harrison was scratched with an illness a day after Logan Webb was dealing with an illness. Keaton Winn was placed on the COVID injured list last week.

Wood was solid and had to deal with Marco Luciano's first costly defensive mistake in the majors. Luciano made a mental error with one out in the top of the third inning, fielding a ground ball and throwing Ha-Seong Kim out at first base rather than attempting to pull off an inning-ending double play. It's possible Luciano misjudged how close the runner was to second base, but it seemed like he thought there were two outs in the inning. It would have been difficult to double up Kim, but it would have prevented a run from scoring if they had pulled it off. The run was unearned because of an error by Thairo Estrada earlier in the inning.

Padres star Juan Soto was responsible for the rest of the Padres offense, driving in three runs on two home runs, one against Brebbia and one against reliever Ryan Walker in the seventh.

Meanwhile, the Giants offense was shutout by Seth Lugo, who allowed just four hits and three walks across 8.2 innings pitched before he was replaced by closer Josh Hader with two outs in the ninth inning.

The SF Giants will return to Oracle Park for the final game of the series against the Padres on Wednesday night. It's unclear whether Harrison will take the mound, but Sean Manaea was previously scheduled to start against his former team. Padres manager Bob Melvin currently lists Matt Waldron as San Diego's probable starting pitcher. First pitch is scheduled for 6:45 PM Pacific.