SAN FRANCISCO -- The Giants returned to their home park on Tuesday night knowing that their elimination number in the postseason race was down to just two. The odds have been so slim that they haven't even pretended to chase down the Phillies or Brewers, instead opting to -- rightly -- audition young players and put pitch counts on their co-aces.
But a funny thing has happened with the end of the season fast approaching. The Giants have played their best baseball in months, and they continue to get help.
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They started their game against the Rockies knowing that the Phillies had just lost their fifth straight. As they finished off a second straight sweep of the Rockies, the Brewers coughed up a late lead and lost to the Marlins.
When the Giants welcome the Diamondbacks to Oracle Park on Thursday, that elimination number will somehow still sit at two.
Plenty of help is still needed, but the Giants are at least doing their part to make this interesting. Carlos Rodón dominated and Ford Proctor hit a grand slam as they beat the Rockies 6-4, winning for the ninth time in 10 games.
The Rockies threatened in the ninth, scoring four runs to bring Camilo Doval into the game. His 27th save finally sent everyone home. Here are three more things to know.
San Francisco Giants
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Rodón is being watched closely by the staff as he finishes a long season, but that isn't keeping him from continuing to pile up strikeouts. He went six innings on Thursday and struck out 10, reaching double-digits for the 11th time, which extended his franchise record.
Rodón struck out the side in the fifth and got two more in the sixth, reaching 237 for the season. In his bid to become the first Giant since Tim Lincecum to lead the league in strikeouts, Rodón now has a six-strikeout lead on Milwaukee's Corbin Burnes, who starts on Friday. He needs 14 in his final start to tie Madison Bumgarner's franchise record for a left-hander.
Home Cooking
Few Giants pitchers have ever been as overpowering as Rodón, and few have ever been as effective at Oracle Park. With six shutout innings, he lowered his home ERA to 1.93, the second-lowest by a qualified Giants starter since Oracle Park opened, trailing just Lincecum (1.88 in 2009). In 84 innings at home this season, Rodón has piled up 121 strikeouts.
The Giants haven't spent as much on pitching in recent seasons in part because they know the ballpark can help short-term rentals reach new heights, but man, Rodón has been so dominant at Oracle Park that he's going to make the front office think long and hard about whether sticking to that plan is the right move.
One To Remember
Proctor gave Rodón a five-run lead by going the opposite way in the second inning for a grand slam. The homer was Proctor's first, and he became just the 16th Giant to get his first homer on a grand slam.
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Ironically, Proctor wasn't the only member of Thursday night's infield to do it. Brandon Crawford's first big league homer was a grand slam in Milwaukee on May 27, 2011. Proctor started at second on Thursday and Crawford at short.