By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–When was today’s 4-3 loss to the Angels decided? When Luke Jackson, the Giants’ third pitcher of the afternoon took the mound, and after he recorded the first two outs of the inning. At that point, Jackson walked Nolan Schanuel in a lengthy eight-pitch at-bat. With Luis Rengifo batting, Schanuel stole his first major-league base, and advanced to third on Curt Casali’s throwing error. Rengifo followed with a base-hit that gave the Angels their first lead of the afternoon.

“(The steal and then the error) gave Rengifo a chance to put the ball in play, which he does. And he found an open space — and ended up scoring a run that ended up being the winning run.” manager Ron Washington said.

The Giants have lost 19 games this season in which they had a lead at some point during the game. Those 19 games are the fifth most in MLB.

Casali’s throwing error was the 45th Giants error of the season. That number 45 ranks them second in errors committed in the NL only to the Marlins (48).

Schanuel’s stolen base was the 73rd stolen against the Giants this season. That number 73 leaves them tied for the most allowed in MLB with the Mets.

Heliot Ramos homered for the second straight day to give him eight homers on the season. It’s the second time this month he’s homered in consecutive games.

“He needs some help, too,” manager Bob Melvin said of Ramos. “He knocked in all three runs today and we left some out there.”

The Giants fell to 2-3 on their current homestand (Astros, Angels) with only Sunday’s series finale remaining. The Giants are now 26-18 all-time versus the Angels, excluding their World Series together in 2001.

Washington, 72, gave his thoughts on the Giants’ upcoming appearance against the Cardinals at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, AL: “Baseball as a whole is bringing this thing back together in the way that it should.”

Washington never played in the Negro Leagues. He spent 10 seasons playing in the minor leagues for three different organizations (Royals, Mets and Dodgers). “Wash” expressed his gratitude that the Giants have vowed to bring all of their African-American players to Birmingham for the experience, regardless of whether they are currently on the active roster. LaMonte Wade, the Giants’ injured first baseman, has a chance to make his return to active duty at Rickwood Field on Thursday with that decision to be made early next week. Washington also lit up when retelling the stories of Josh Gibson and Cool Papa Bell, two of the Negro Leagues’ biggest superstars.