Giants, Bryce Eldridge usher in new era, but its too late to save season

SAN FRANCISCO — In some fairytale far, far away, the Giants’ miraculous comeback Wednesday was the demarcation point of a turnaround on a larger scale.The walk-off grand slam didn’t merely complete a comeback from a 9-1 deficit in the eighth inning, these heroics could be the first of many from their heralded rookie on an equally daunting uphill climb back to the postseason from where they stood when the day began.Hey, in the words of Matt Chapman, stranger things have happened.“Whatever little reset button our position players hit when there was some frustration with what was going on on the mound was perfect,” manager Tony Vitello said.“I hope we can carry that over.”In reality, fans should cherish Bryce Eldridge’s face-of-the-franchise moment — a raucous ending to one of the zaniest games at the corner of Third & King — because it is more likely to be an exclamation point in the middle of a paragraph than the beginning of a new chapter.As the Eldridge era begins, the Giants sit 13 games below .500, eight out of a playoff spot.

All-Star ballots are out; it’s not early anymore.Only one team in baseball history has risen from these ashes to make the playoffs: the 1914 Boston “Miracle” Braves.Eldridge may be the franchise’s savior.

But he’s not a miracle worker.In many ways, the Giants have begun to show their true colors over the past month or so.Their lineup was never going to be as bad as its performance in April suggested.

On the flip side, the relatively stress-free first month from their underinvested pitching staff was a predictable mirage.Take, for example, their most recent win.As Vitello said afterward, “It’s not easy to repeat as many runs as we put up in two innings,” and nobody should expect the Giants to pull off another caper like this one.(They had been 0-30 when trailing by any margin after just six innings.)It would be easier to repeat when trailing by, say, only three runs, which is what the margin was wh...