San Francisco, CA – It was a rare night for hitting triples but Yasiel Puig managed to hit enough to stifle the Giants. Puig hit three triples to match Jimmy Sheckard (three triples on April 18, 1901 vs Philadelphia) for the most in a game in franchise history.

When asked about Puig’s night, San Francisco’s manager Bruce Bochy declined to discuss his historic night but did say “I don’t really want to, he had a good night, I’ll say that,” said Bochy with a smile. “When made some mistakes and good hitters take advantage of that.”

The Giants avoided a shutout in their 8-1 loss when they attempted a rally in the ninth to only muster one run. San Francisco tried to rally with the bases loaded and one out. Closer Paul Maholm loaded the bases twice but Tyler Colvin was the only player to hit a RBI single putting the Giants on the board.

Coming into tonight’s game San Francisco owned the best record in their division but the Dodgers made it clear they are not far behind. They added on four runs in the fifth knocking Tim Lincecum out of the game. The Dodgers also tied a franchise record with five triples in one game.

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“I saw I’m the second guy in franchise history, and it’s important, but it’s way better to win a the playoffs and win the World Series,” Puig said when asked how he felt about his three triples.

Puig went 4-for-5 with three triples and a double. He set a career high with his four base hits. Puig set the tone with a triple in the first followed by Adrian Gonzalez RBI single making it a 1-0 game. But the boys in blue opened up their offense in the fifth with six hits scoring five runs.

Zack Greinke started the offensive surge with a single, Dee Gordon followed with a RBI triple. Puig followed with a RBI triple, Gonzalez followed with a RBI single and Matt Kemp cleared the bases with a two-run triple extending the Dodgers lead 6-0. Puig added on two more runs with a triple in the seventh.

“That was crazy, never seen anything like that,” aid Kemp referring to Puig’s three triples.

Lincecum had been one of the leagues best starters last month but showed no signs of that when he unraveled in the fifth. He tossed 4 1/3 innings allowing nine hits, six runs and six strikeouts. His ERA jumped from 3.65 to 3.96 snapping his 27.0 home scoreless streak in the first inning.

“I got away from my plan,” Lincecum said. “I didn’t throw as many breaking balls as I wanted to. That’s been the equalizer for me in keeping guys honest, it makes that fastball look a little bit faster an I really wasn’t doing that today, at least not in that inning.”

Notes – The injuries continue to take a toll for the Giants. Second base remains an issue, Marco Scutaro returned to the lineup last week while the team was on the road but has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with a lower back strain.

Joe Panik whose been playing second base left Tuesday’s game in the second inning with a sprained right ankle and he is day-to-day. The Giants purchased the contract of Dan Uggla from Triple-A Fresno. Uggla signed a contract with the Giants on July 21st after he was released by the Atlanta Braves on July 18th.

He owned a 162 avg with two home runs and 10 RBIs in 48 games with the Braves this season. Not his best year but since 1996 Uggla lead all Major League second baseman with 233 home runs and ranked first among active second baseman in that category.

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