Aug 12, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants manager Bob Melvin (6) talks to the media before the game between the San Diego Padres and the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Robert Edwards-Imagn Images Robert Edwards-Imagn Images

The Padres series may have crushed the San Francisco Giants' Playoff Dreams

Originally posted on San Francisco Giants on SI
By Ryan Boman | Last updated Aug 13, 2025 10:05 PM ET

Theoretically, the San Francisco Giants are still in playoff contention in 2025. The last wild card slot can be theirs if they play well enough to make up six games in the standings and leapfrog four teams. In other words, a 'chance' is about all the team had going into Wednesday's game against NL West rivals, the San Diego Padres.

In this position, most teams need a signature win. Unfortunately for the Giants, they were tagged with a signature loss, as the Padres crushed them, 11-1. With the win, San Diego wrapped up a three-game sweep of the home team at Oracle Park.

Starter Kai-Wai Teng was rocked for six earned runs in just 1 2/3 innings. Reliever Joey Lucchesi got hit hard as well, surrendering three earned runs in one inning of work. With their fifth straight loss, the Giants fell to three games under .500 for the first time this season. They have now lost 13 of their last 14 games at home.

The win (temporarily, at least) pushed the Padres to first place by a half-game over the Los Angeles Dodgers, who played later in the evening. Meanwhile, it left the Giants looking for answers and questioning where things go from here.

“You go out there and continue to try to play,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said. “You probably take a look at different complements, like we are at this point in time right now. We might be at a point where we give guys days off and look at some other guys. I still hate to admit we’re at that point. We talk about being a pitching and defense team, and we’ve pitched well, but our defense hasn’t been good, really all year.”

The Giants are currently stuck in Postseason Purgatory

Bob Kupbens-Imagn Images

The Giants acknowledged not only their losses, but the effect it's had on the mentality of the team and how much it has frustrated the fan base.

“It just looks bad,” Melvin stated. “The way we’ve been playing, it looks horrible. Now all of a sudden it’s 7-0 and we’re in the second inning. The way we’ve been feeling, it’s just a miserable feeling.”

“The way we’ve been playing for the last two months hasn’t been the best,” shortstop Willy Adames said. “It’s still the same story. We haven’t figured it out. I thought we got something good going from New York and then Pittsburgh, but since we’ve come home, we haven’t figured it out here.”

The Giants (59-62) have now fallen into a tie for fourth place in the NL West with the Arizona Diamondbacks. They will try to right the ship as they battle the Tampa Bay Rays in a three-game home series, starting on Thursday.