By: Eric He

The San Francisco Giants flew into Chicago with a 1.5 game lead on the Cubs in the second National League Wild Card spot, and will leave trailing the Cubs by 3.5 games.

It could not have gone any worse for the Giants – a sweep at the hands of the Cubs, who announced their presence onto baseball’s big stage in a grand way, putting on a clinic against the defending World Champions.

A lot of talk entering the four-game series billed it as a crucial one, more for the Cubs than the Giants. Makes sense. The Cubs were on the outside looking in on the playoff picture. They were the young, inexperienced team. They were the “Lovable Losers,” having a surprisingly good season but bound to slip and fall as they always do. The Billy Goat, The Black Cat, Steve Bartman – of course, this cursed team can’t be for real, can they?

Oh yes they are, and this four-game set proved it.

They put the pressure on the Giants, scoring in the first inning of each game and controlling play. The Giants led just once in the series – a Brandon Belt home run on Saturday that gave his team a brief 2-1 lead that was quickly erased in the bottom of the third. On Sunday, the Cubs led 2-0 after the second inning and held down the fort, silencing the Giants’ offense. Despite loading the bases with nobody out in the ninth, the Giants fell prey to three consecutive strikeouts by Cubs’ closer Hector Rondon to end the game.

The Cubs have now won 10 of 11 and are among the hottest teams in baseball along with the Blue Jays.

Now, the Giants find themselves trailing more in the Wild Card (3.5 games back of the Cubs) than the division (3 games back of the Dodgers). Interpret that however, but before worrying about other teams, the Giants must find a quick fix to their own issues.

Pitching remains the biggest concern. As has been the case all season, Madison Bumgarner remains the only reliable option. Jake Peavy, the hard-luck loser on Sunday, has actually been decent with a 2.56 ERA since July. Chris Heston, who had been on a tear, has struggled mightily in consecutive starts. Newly acquired Mike Leake is on the disabled list with a strained hamstring, and the shaky Ryan Vogelsong is far from an apt replacement. Matt Cain looks like more of a fourth or fifth starter than “the horse” that the Giants need him to be.

The Giants’ offense put up four runs on Thursday and six on Saturday, which typically should be enough for wins – if Heston and Cain had not gotten blown up.

Speaking of the offense, the Giants suddenly have a dearth of production at the top of the lineup. With Joe Panik on the disabled list, the Giants have been batting Nori Aoki second. Aoki, who himself returned on July 27 from the DL, has just a .225 average since that date, and took a scary pitch to the head on Sunday. Angel Pagan is quickly becoming a liability at the top of the lineup. He is hitting .174 in August and has seen his average slip to .258. Still with no home runs, Pagan has looked sluggish in the outfield as well.

For as much as Matt Duffy and Buster Posey are crushing hits left and right, they would mean a lot more if the top two hitters in the lineup were on base in front of them. The Giants’ identity this season has been their offense – with arguably their deepest lineup since the Bonds era – and they can ill-afford to have their production at the plate slip considering their struggling pitching staff.

And so, here we are. Less than two months of baseball remain, and the Giants must grind out some wins after being swept by the Cubs in a four-game series for the first time since 1977. Their next 22 games are against teams with winning records, and six of them are against the same Cubs and the Dodgers. By September 3rd, when they visit the 47-62 Rockies on the road, we will know whether the Giants are still a factor in the playoff picture.