Giants’ postseason hopes on life support after wasted chances in loss to Dodgers

LOS ANGELES — In their first draft under president of baseball operations Buster Posey, the Giants went out of their way to take contact hitters. A few weeks later, they took the same approach to the trade deadline.The goal is to one day have more balance, to feature a lineup that includes free-swinging sluggers but also ancillary pieces that can keep a rally moving with a well-placed ball in play. The problem for the Giants is it might be years before the changes behind the scenes are seen on the field, and right now they still have a group that can seem stuck in the mud far too often. That’s never been more apparent than in the seventh inning Thursday.After failing to score any of the six runners who drew a walk from Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the Giants went walk, walk, strikeout, walk, walk, strikeout, strikeout in the seventh against right-handers Michael Kopech and Blake Treinen. With the game, and possibly their slim playoff hopes, on the line, nobody could put one in the gap, or find grass in front of an outfielder, or even hit a sacrifice fly. Nobody could do that all night, really. The lineup managed just one hit and wasted 10 walks...