ShareThisThings we learned from the San Francisco Giants' four-game series in Denver, where they dropped three of four to the Rockies to fall four games behind Colorado in the National League wild card race:
-- The Giants were engaged and competitive throughout, but in the biggest moments, they just didn't have it. As they stagger home, it's time for a reminder that none of this seemed conceivable in March.
-- On Monday night, reliever Bobby Howry came on for the ninth inning and walked the first guy he faced. Brandon Medders opened the 14th by walking Dexter Fowler, who could hardly stand upright after fouling a ball off his knee. Justin Miller walked pitcher Adam Eaton with the bases loaded. These are inexcusable acts.
-- Lefty Barry Zito took the ball for the biggest game of the season, and he was brilliant. There isn't an athlete in the world that has to prove himself so often -- over and over again, into eternity. Get off his back, everybody. He's throwing the ball better than most pitchers in either league, and he's doing it without a prime-time fastball. That's pure smarts.
-- Offensively, the Giants seem to go as Eugenio Velez goes. That's sort of scary and invigorating at the same time.
-- Freddy Sanchez isn't a wimp, nor is he injury-prone. He's been an all-out battler throughout his career, known for his toughness. But as athletes approach 30, they start paying the price for such commitment. Knees and shoulders are especially vulnerable. Discouraging to think he might not be fully healthy until spring.
-- Miscues this series: Wrong-base throw from Aaron Rowand, ill-advised cutoff by Ryan Garko, easy-hop drop by Velez and then, Monday night, Juan Uribe costing Zito his shutout by botching a double-play grounder in the fifth. The Giants don't hit well enough to play this brand of defense. (Their poor situational hitting is worth a six-page treatise.)
-- The Rockies were 15-1/2 games behind the Dodgers in June. They can catch L.A. if they sweep the three-game set opening Tuesday night in Denver.
(E-mail Bruce Jenkins at bjenkins(at)sfchronicle.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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