ST. LOUIS — In a vacuum, the Giants had an acceptable road trip. They dropped the rubber match to the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday at Busch Stadium, but with a sweep of the Colorado Rockies , they’ll fly home with four wins to two losses.

The Giants do not exist in a vacuum. With 19 games remaining and a record of 72-71, acceptable is not enough. They had an opportunity in St. Louis to inch closer to that final NL wild card spot, but Saturday’s walk-off loss combined with Sunday’s 4-3 loss leaves them four games behind the New York Mets.

Now, they enter their most important homestand of the season: Three games against the surging Arizona Diamondbacks, who are making their own late push for the final wild card spot, and three games against the Los Angeles Dodgers, who are clinging to

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