There's only one thing the San Francisco Giants can do about their current position in the playoff race: keep winning. It seems self explanatory, but the Giants can't simply depend on another team to fall on their sword down the stretch. With just about a month left in the season, they are too far out of the NL West and Wild Card races to afford more than a couple loses. To stay in contention, loses from the Los Angeles Dodgers or Chicago Cubs are a necessity, but at this point all the reigning World Series champs can worry about is their own schedule.

Veteran right-hander Tim Hudson made his mark by getting the win on Tuesday in his first start back from the disabled list, but now they will depend on recently struggling Chris Heston (11-9, 3.54 ERA) to get back on track. Him and his opposition, Zack Godley (4-1, 3.62 ERA), both put together fantastically quick innings for the first three frames. It wasn't until the fourth that a team finally managed to get some runs on the board. After David Peralta ground-rule doubled, catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia homered to give the D-Backs a 2-0 lead. In fact, this lead was all Arizona needed to secure the win.

The Giants did muster a run in the sixth inning off a wild pitch that Alejandro De Aza was able to swipe home on, making it a 2-1 ballgame. In the very next inning, the bases became loaded for the Giants with Angel Pagan and the rest of the lineup due up. Unfortunately, with two outs, the threat dissipated with a pop up to end the inning.

When it was all said and done, one costly mistake killed Heston's solid effort. Heston didn't make it through the fifth, but he did show glimpses of what he can do when he is effectively locating his pitches. He recorded five strikeouts in his limited outing, but the two extra base hits in the fourth doomed him. Again the Giants bullpen provided a hold, but the offense couldn't get rolling at all and spoiled any opportunity they were presented with. The one bright spot for the Giants was Marlon Byrd who actually picked up a pair of hits, but with guys like Brandon Crawford and Buster Posey getting a day off the hits meant little in the long run.

To be fair, Zack Godley pitched undeniably well for his ball club despite only lasting five innings. Because he has only recently been included in the starting rotation this year, the innings he throws are a concern. So despite allowing only three hits and the sole run off the wild pitch, the D-Backs strategically removed him from the game and turned to their bullpen. The bullpen didn't disappoint as they kept the Giants in check and relied on Brad Ziegler to pick up the save in 1.2 innings of work.

It's rare to find a game that the Diamondbacks win without Paul Goldschmidt being involved but on Wednesday he failed to record a hit. Luckily for Arizona they didn't need his powerful bat as the pitching is what ultimately secured them the win and the series.

This tough road trip for the Giants has finally come to an end, but will not be forgotten as it will undoubtedly haunt their month of September. After a day off tomorrow, they will return home for a three-game series against the San Diego Padres. With hope dwindling, the Giants are on their last gasp and can only hope that the stars align perfectly in their favor. 

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About the author
Kyle Botermans
My name is Kyle Botermans and I'm a senior in High School in a small town in Southern Oregon. Eventually I plan to become an energy resource engineer, but in the mean time I want to explore my strengths in writing about the teams I love: the San Francisco Giants and 49ers.