Giants blow winnable game, lose 3-2 to Dodgers

Both things can be true. The Giants should win every game in which Madison Bumgarner homers off Clayton Kershaw. They should stop the game, a 50-foot-long limousine should pull onto the field, and the entire roster and staff should wave to the crowd as they get in. Giants win, automatically, because Bumgarner homered off Kershaw again. Also, the limousine should have rockets that fly the team to the moon.

The Giants shouldn't be allowed to win in a game where Ehire Adrianza's home run off Clayton Kershaw is the margin of victory. If Kelby Tomlinson made the turn on that double play, or if Santiago Casilla didn't walk Chase Utley in the first place, the umpires would have huddled for five minutes, then walked over to Bruce Bochy and said, "Nah."

"Nah?" Bochy would say.

"Nah."

He wouldn't even argue, and the teams would have to retake the field and start the game from Adrianza's at-bat.

Both things should be true. In the end, it's just a silly one-run loss in which everything was possible, nothing was real, and every lousy chance the Giants had from the ninth inning on was squandered.

Perspective: The Giants absolutely deserved to lose that game. Madison Bumgarner pitched, sure, but he also filled the bases a couple of times and escaped with hard contact. Kershaw was better, except he allowed home runs to a pitcher and a utility infielder, which are just different kinds of hard contact. The Giants were sloppy in the field in unfortunate moments, and it was easily the kind of game they could have lost 5-0.

Instead, it was a 3-2 loss to pull your nose hairs, one by one. Squink. Squink. Squink.

Let's go through a Blame Power Rankings for this game, then. Who do we really need to blame? Who is the person most responsible for bringing us down from that glorious high from Friday night? Here are some answers, ranked:

1. Clayton Kershaw

Does he realize just how much more he could help people by retiring and dedicating his life to charity? He's already a millionaire, several times over. Take that money, and figure out a way to give back, in my opinion. There are children in this country who can't afford school supplies. And he spends his Saturdays playing a game?

It's a free country, I guess. But I don't think it's hyperbole to point out that Clayton Kershaw is probably the most selfish person alive.

2. Santiago Casilla

Don't walk Chase Utley in front of Yasiel Puig, Justin Turner, and Adrian Gonzalez. Let him hit it 400 feet, because that might be a nice, long fly ball out. It might go in the water and tie the game, sure, but it's less likely than Puig hitting a double to score the runner from first. Or Turner hitting a single to score the runner from second, after Utley advances on a fielder's choice. Or Utley scoring after Puig singles, Turner is hit by a pitch, and the second baseman muffs a game-ending double play. Which is what happen.

Let Utley hit it 400 feet if you need to.

That seems easy to complain about in retrospect, especially when Casilla was ~this~ close to getting a hilarious save. But if the walk to Utley didn't fill you with immediate and utter dread, you probably didn't see it.

3. Kelby Tomlinson

Ayup. He's still not much of a second baseman. It's odd, because he looked like a fine enough shortstop in spring, so you would think it would translate perfectly to the keystone. It doesn't. And I'm not sure if it's time to start using defensive replacements in his spot starts, but it's at least time to consider it.

That isn't to say he's hopeless. A little more experience at second, and he might be the utility knife the Giants have been hoping for. Pretty sure Justin Turner wasn't wizard at second and third when he was coming up, because that would have made people pay attention to Justin Turner. Baseball is hard, and switching positions in the majors is an easy thing to take for granted.

The game was over if Joe Panik were playing second, though, and even though Tomlinson didn't create the mess, it's the easiest flub to point to. Fix that one thing, and the game ends in a much better way.

You know he would have hit a single in the bottom of the ninth, too. Used all of the magic dust on Friday, apparently.

4. George Kontos

He allows a lot of contact. He didn't used to allow a lot of contact, and then last year he did, which isn't very comforting. This year, he's allowing a lot of contact. His go-to slider isn't something he can bury in the dirt consistently. And if he's trying to throw strikes with it, it isn't something he can bury at the bottom of the zone consistently.

We don't care about Kontos if the Giants get one more run off Kershaw, or if Casilla doesn't walk Utley, or if Tomlinson starts the double play, or if either Matt Duffy or Joe Panik swing the bat instead of taking a called-third strike. So he can't be #1.

But he can make the list. That 10th inning sure got ugly mighty fast.

5. You

You either watched the game or didn't. If you watched, great, you jinxed it. If you didn't watch, great, you jinxed it. Good job, you. The Giants were in a very nice groove.

There are losses that sting, and there are losses that offend you with just how dull they are. And then there are losses that come with something you'll enjoy for years. Madison Bumgarner hit a home run off Clayton Kershaw, at least. That's fun, right?

Yeah, that's fun. It just would have been a lot cooler if the Giants could have done anything to hold a one-run lead in the ninth.