By Morris Phillips

One night after racking up 19 hits, scoring 12 runs and appearing as if they had solved their biggest problem, the Giants came crashing back to their norm.  Instead of seizing control of their playoff lives, they died a small death, shutout 2-0 by a division foe seven seasons removed from their last postseason appearance.

How could the Giants lose to the Rockies under these circumstances?  Well, the answer starts and ends with Colorado’s Tyler Chatwood.  The hard-throwing, right hander had AT&T Park fans sitting on their hands, allowing four, disconnected singles in a terrific, eight innings of work.

“Everything was live,” Rockies manager Walt Weiss said of Chatwood.  “Great finish to his pitches.  He had the sinker, cutter combo, and then he started mixing in the curveball.  That’s kind of been his formula the last few times out where he starts to go to the curveball in the middle innings.  He made it interesting with a couple of leadoff walks late, but he gets the groundball and that’s what he’s really good at.  He can put the ball on the ground with the best of them.  He got two, huge double plays.  To shut down that team for eight innings, that’s impressive.”

“Chatwood’s been tough on us,” manager Bruce Bochy admitted.  “He was good tonight.  We just couldn’t figure him out.”

For the first eight innings, the Giants never got a baserunner as far as third base.   When a glimmer arose, Chatwood induced Buster Posey to ground into a double play in the seventh, then got Angel Pagan to do the same in the eighth.

Consequently, the Giants’ playoff picture remained muddied.  Four games remain, and the Giants are a 1 ½ games behind the Mets who won, and just a game in front of the Cardinals, who lost on Wednesday.  Had the Giants won, they would have had St. Louis teetering on the proverbial cliff.  Instead, they’d better win Thursday, or cede critical momentum to the Cards heading into the season’s final weekend.

The Giants were shutout for the ninth time since things got dicey following the All-Star break.  They’ve had far too many nights like these, but to be fair, Chatwood was a different animal.

The 26-year old pitcher missed most of the 2014 season, and all of 2015 while recovering from a second Tommy John surgery, the first coming when he was just a freshman in high school.  The effects of the first procedure might have been on the minds of the Angels when they gave up on the locally-reared prospect they drafted, more so than his so-so 6-11 rookie season in 2011.

Traded to Colorado for catcher Chris Ianetta after that 2011 season, Chatwood had two fair seasons with the Rockies, winning a combined 13 games in 2012 and 2013, first out of the bullpen, then as a member of the team’s starting rotation.  Elbow issues prompted the second Tommy John procedure in 2014, but since returning in April, Chatwood, according to Weiss, has exceeded expectations.

To say the least: with the win Wednesday, Chatwood improved his record to 8-1 in 13 starts away from chaotic Coors Field.  His ERA of 1.69 in those road starts is the lowest of any major league pitcher this season, while shattering the Rockies’ ERA record of 2.44 established in 2013 by Jhoulys Chacin, who made 13 road starts that season.

Opposite Chatwood, Jeff Samardzija was obscured.  The Giants’ starter pitched superbly, striking out a season-best 11, while allowing two runs in six innings.  In the sixth, Samardzija induced RBI machine Nolan Arenado to hit into an inning-ending double play, no small feat since Arenado earlier picked up his major league-leading 130^th RBI.

But all that battling simply saddled the Giants’ starter with the loss, despite his performance announcing that he’s postseason-ready, if one exists for the Giants.

“This is the time of year, man,” Samardzija said.  “This feels great to be out there pitching when the weather turns a little bit and the season comes to an end.  I always love being able to see the finish line and it always allows me to go a little harder.”

Samardzija’s performance put him over 200 innings of work for the season, his fourth consecutive such season.  But will he pitch again?  The Giants tinkered with their rotation, putting Madison Bumgarner in line to start Friday against the Dodgers opposite Clayton Kershaw, with Bum’s next logical start being the wild card game a week from now.

Win next Wednesday, and the Giants will head to Chicago to challenge the powerful Cubs in the NLDS.  But after the loss to the Rockies, that’s a long way off.

On Thursday, the Giants send Johnny Cueto to the mound in a matchup with Colorado’s 10-win Jon Gray at 7:15pm.