SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco Giants had one final opportunity to beat the Colorado Rockies and dig into their wild card lead Wednesday night. It was sitting there for the taking, like a runner at third base with less than two outs.

Lest anyone forget, though, the Giants have stranded runners all season.
Matt Cain gave up home runs to Troy Tulowitzki and Ian Stewart, and there would be no rescue, no miracle grand slams from aging shortstops, no spiritual intercessions. Just a three-run rally in the ninth that fell 90 feet short in a 4-3 loss at AT&T Park.
The Giants chased pitches for eight innings against left-hander Jorge De La Rosa. And now they’ll chase some more.
They are 3 1/2 games behind Colorado with 16 to play, and with the season series complete, both teams have a day off to travel. The Rockies begin a three-game series at Arizona on Friday before they return to Coors Field for a nine-game homestand. The Giants will make a weekend visit to Dodger Stadium and finish their six-game trip in Arizona.
As hot as the Rockies have gotten at times this season, the Giants can’t assume they’ll get much help. That’s why it was so important to complete the sweep and get within a game in the loss column. But after scoring 26 runs in three games, their offense reverted to form and they were powerless to complete the sweep.
The patience they displayed against Ubaldo Jimemez a night earlier? It vanished against De La Rosa, who worked ahead in the count and coaxed one lunging swing after another.
De La Rosa held the Giants to three hits, walked two and struck out nine in eight shutout innings. He is 6-0 in seven career starts against the Giants, and has an 0.83 ERA in four career appearances at AT&T Park.
That’s not to say the Giants didn’t have him backed into a corner or two. But they grounded into two double plays and failed to score in the sixth inning after getting runners at second and third with no outs. Nate Schierholtz walked, Rich Aurilia hit a pinch single and the runners advanced on a wild pitch.
But Andres Torres struck out on a breaking pitch at his heels, Freddy Sanchez struck out on three pitches and Pablo Sandoval covered a huge zone while fouling off pitches before swinging through an eye-level fastball.
Sanchez almost seemed cursed in his at-bat. He swung at the first and third pitches, both breaking balls out of the zone. He took the second one for a borderline strike on the outside edge.
The Giants have rolled over against plenty of stiffs this season, but De La Rosa wasn’t one of them. Cast aside by the Milwaukee Brewers and Kansas City Royals, the left-hander has been a treasured find for the Rockies.
Cain couldn’t equal him. Tulowitzki broke a scoreless tie with his shot in the fourth inning, and after a walk to Yorvit Torrealba, Clint Barmes drove a run-scoring double off the wall.
Torrealba also singled in front of Stewart’s homer in the sixth. Cain squatted in front of the mound and watched as the high drive slipped over the center field fence.
Cain, whose emergence has been such an important part of the Giants’ thrust into contention, is winless in seven home starts since the All-Star break. One of those starts came Aug. 30 against the Rockies, when he had a near-identical line — four runs in six innings, two home runs allowed.
Cain didn’t receive a decision in that start because Edgar Renteria hit a grand slam to send the Giants to a shocking victory.
The Giants nearly pulled off another miracle comeback. Sanchez, Sandoval and Bengie Molina hit consecutive singles to start the ninth against Franklin Morales and Juan Uribe’s potential double-play grounder turned into a quagmire when shortstop Tulowitzki flipped his throw past second baseman Clint Barmes.
The Giants had the tying runs in scoring position after pinch runner Eugenio Velez stole second base. But Renteria, who has two bad shoulders and an elbow that requires surgery, popped out to second base. Randy Winn grounded out to score a run, and with Velez standing at third base, Schierholtz waved through a 3-2 pitch off the plate to end it.