SAN FRANCISCO — The end was all too familiar for the 2025 Giants. 

Their bullpen, torn apart by trades and injuries, fell apart in the late innings at Oracle Park. The lineup, so inconsistent all year, failed to bring in a runner from scoring position in the bottom of the ninth. 

With their 9-8 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday, the Giants officially were eliminated from the MLB playoff race. They will miss the postseason for the eighth time in nine years, and this is one of their worst collapses yet. They were 11 games over .500 when they acquired Rafael Devers in June, but they’ll need to win out just to finish at 81-81. 

The elimination number was two entering the day, and that got cut in half when the New York Mets staged a big comeback at Wrigley Field. The Giants needed a win to stay alive, and for a while it seemed they would get it. 

Logan Webb got off to a nightmare start, allowing five hits and three runs in the top of the first. It would have been worse, but longtime Giants-killer Nolan Arenado bounced into a double play after the night started with three consecutive hits. 

Webb settled in from there and the Giants gave him the lead with a five-run outburst in the third. With the bases loaded and no outs, Heliot Ramos hit a chopper to third. Arenado went home but his throw hit Patrick Bailey, who had veered pretty far onto the grass, and bounced toward the dugout. That brought the first two runs across. 

The Cardinals scored four runs in the seventh to get within a run, but Joel Peguero survived two deep fly balls in the eighth. In the ninth, things quickly unraveled. 

Ryan Walker gave up a leadoff single to the No. 9 hitter and then a game-tying double. After a groundout, Alec Burleson lined a go-ahead single to right, handing Walker his seventh blown save. 

After a one-out double by Willy Adames in the bottom of the ninth, Matt Chapman and Wilmer Flores struck out. 

Mr. 200

In the top of the fifth, Webb clinched his third consecutive 200-inning season. He already reached 200 strikeouts for the first time, and he has a pretty good chance to lead the National League in both categories.

Webb currently leads the majors at 201 2/3 innings, which is 4 1/3 ahead of Boston Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet and 5 1/3 ahead of Philadelphia Phillies left-hander Christopher Sanchez. Crochet will pitch Wednesday and Sanchez is on track to pitch again Sunday, but both players could be lining themselves up for playoff series by the weekend. If Webb finishes ahead of them, it’ll be his second time leading the majors and third straight year leading the NL. 

Webb struck out five on Tuesday, getting to 216 on the season. He currently is seven ahead of Pittsburgh Pirates phenom Paul Skenes, who will make his final start of the year on Wednesday. If Webb leads the league in both, he’ll become the first to do it in the NL since Zack Wheeler in 2021.

Webb already has become the first Giant to reach 200 innings and 200 strikeouts since Madison Bumgarner in 2019. Bumgarner also is the last Giant to throw 200 innings in at least three straight seasons; he went six straight from 2011 to 2016. 

Bailey Bounceback

Aside from his slick baserunning, Bailey had a single, double, two runs and an RBI. The night continued what has been a strong finishing push for a player who seemed to run out of gas the past two seasons. 

Bailey entered the night with a .295 average and four homers in September, and he’s among the NL leaders with 16 RBI this month. His OPS for the season is up to .609, which isn’t what he hoped for in his third big league season, but is much easier to swallow than the numbers he was putting up most of the summer. 

20 Club

The eighth unanswered run left the yard in a hurry. Heliot Ramos hit one out to left at 110.5 mph, giving him 20 on the season. The Giants now have four 20-homer hitters in their lineup, with Ramos joining Devers, Adames and Chapman. 

Ramos has reached 20 in back-to-back years, but because he has played exclusively left field this season, he ended a long drought. He became the first Giants left fielder to reach 20 homers since Barry Bonds in 2007. 

The Giants have started a different player in left field every year since, although Ramos should end that next season. Another streak might keep going, though; Adames has been stuck on 28 homers since Sept. 9. 

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