Mercury News
The Giants began September in a dead heat with Colorado for the NL wild card, having just swept the Rockies in a surging three-game series at AT&T Park.
Now the calendar page is turning to October. And on Wednesday night, the Giants sped straight through to 2010.
In the seventh inning of their 4-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Giants were eliminated from postseason play. Colorado had finished its victory over the Milwaukee Brewers, keeping the Giants out of the playoffs for the sixth consecutive year.
The Giants are trying to finish strong, and won their third consecutive behind Brad Penny's complete game. But their surge is coming too late.
The Giants were 13-14 in September — their first losing record in a month this season.
"Being honest, we consistently did the same job we did in the previous months with the bat, and this was the first month the rotation really tripped," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "This month has been a great learning experience for everybody, especially the young players and pitchers.
"We did what we wanted to do — to play meaningful games here. This is a month you need to play your best baseball, and at times, it got away from us. "... The teams that get there get on a roll at the end."
The Giants never found that roll, even though they had the main ingredient — strong starting pitching — most every night. They'll finish with the best home record in the NL, but their only five-game winning streak came back in April. When they parted ways with Colorado after that end-of-August series at China Basin, the Rockies resumed their streaking ways by winning 10 of their next 12. The Giants lost seven of 11, splitting a six-game road trip to Philadelphia and Milwaukee even though their stout pitching staff held the potent Phillies and Brewers to a grand total of nine runs. That's pretty much where the season was lost. The Giants were as close as 21/2 back after winning Sept. 18 at Dodger Stadium, but they dropped the next two. Carrying over momentum is something they'll have to learn to do next year. But Bochy nodded that yes, there is some satisfaction in staying alive until the 158th game. Penny, an impartial observer for most of the season, agreed. "If you asked me where this team would end up, I'd say last in the division," Penny said. "If they make a couple moves, you could see them playing in the World Series next year." Penny used his six-start trial as a Giant to generate plenty of steam heading into free agency. He held Arizona to six hits and would've had a shutout if not for his own error in the fourth inning. It was his first complete game since Aug. 14, 2005, when he was pitching for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Penny (4-1) threw 109 pitches, and the stadium radar gun clocked the final one at 95 mph. "He was a big shot in the arm for us," Bochy said. "He gave us everything we asked and more. He's loose but he competes. He pitches with a lot of intensity and emotion." Three of Penny's six starts were dominant efforts in which he pitched at least eight innings and allowed one run or fewer. In two others, he allowed two runs in seven innings. After washing out with the Boston Red Sox, he'll no doubt generate interest from NL teams — probably enough to price him out of the Giants' plans for next season. Bochy said he was "sure there will be" discussions aimed at bringing Penny back. One night after Bengie Molina had two home runs amid a four-hit game, the Giants received another huge contribution from behind the plate. Eli Whiteside blooped a two-run single in the second inning and hit a solo homer in the fourth. "I asked Bengie if he left any hits in that spot for me," Whiteside said. "I guess he did." From: MLB.com
 Arizona (68-90) Lost 2 | San Francisco 4, Arizona 1 |  San Francisco (85-73) Won 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Standings thru 9/30/09 | Recap: ARI | SF | Wrap | Gameday |
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