The Giants are having a bizarre, tortured season, and it ain't easy on us long-suffering fans. The team management played chicken with the rest of the National League West this year, betting that going cheapo on the payroll would give them just enough to win their weak division. The result is a team with infuriating major flaws that's on course to fall just short of making the playoffs. They trail the hated Dodgers by 3 games with 4 to play, but 3 of those games are head-to-head, and the team is only one game out of the wild card lead (a way to make the playoffs without winning the division), so Anything Can Still Happen.
Last night was arguably the most incredible, painful loss of the season. After blowing a 3-1 lead in the 6th inning, the game was tied 3-3 in the last of the 10th. Two (two!) throwing errors set up a bases loaded, one out situation for San Diego. The game ended when Mark Loretta hit a foul fly to right field. Dustan Mohr caught the ball, then tripped over the bullpen mound and severly injured his knee. Pinch-runner Kerry Robinson came home with the winning run as Mohr lay flat on the ground, holding his knee, trainers and doctors racing to help him. It was a nightmare scene.
Hank Greenwald is fond of saying "You go out to the ballpark every day, you see something you haven't seen before". This infinite diversity is one of my favorite aspects of baseball. But this was a horrible way for a baseball game to end.
More pleasant stuff about baseball combinations and permutations: here's a page describing all the playoff possibilities, including what happens in the event of unprecedented three-way and four-way ties. Fun!