Where the Giants stand, and where they can improve, as the All-Star break arrives

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The ultra-competitive Buster Posey probably didn’t need more motivation to search for ways to upgrade the Giants’ roster as the July 31 trade deadline approaches.

But if he did, watching his team fall short against the Dodgers likely provided it.

The Giants entered the ninth inning of Sunday’s series finale trailing 2-0 before a lifeless offense received an unexpected jolt from pinch-hitter Luis Matos, who sent a game-tying two-run homer off Dodgers closer Tanner Scott into the left center field bleachers.

Matos’ fifth home run of the season forced extra innings, but the Giants failed to score in the 10th and watched as the Dodgers found every hole in their defense in a three-run 11th inning that led to a 5-2 defeat.

Starter Robbie Ray tossed six innings of two-run ball and the Giants’ high-leverage relievers — Randy Rodríguez, Ryan Walker, and Camilo Doval — kept the game within reach, but the loss shone a spotlight on the offensive struggles that have defined much of the first half.

The Giants have overcome rough patches from their lineup with outstanding pitching and enough timely hits, but on Sunday, All-Star Yoshinobu Yamamoto and four Dodgers relievers limited the Giants to just five hits.

Rafael Devers was nearly the hero the Giants needed when he sent a 10th inning line drive out to center field at 106.1 miles per hour, but James Outman tracked the ball down on the warning track and the offense didn’t threaten again.

With two on and two out in the 11th, right-hander Spencer Bivens induced a shallow pop-up from Dodgers slugger Freddie Freeman. The ball left his bat at 70.6 miles per hour and fell to the outfield grass between center fielder Jung Hoo Lee, shortstop Willy Adames, and second baseman Casey Schmitt.

“Baseball can be a cruel game,” manager Bob Melvin said. “It can go 106 off the bat there and they hit balls like 40 miles per hour in the last inning, so it’s just the way it is.”

Freeman’s go-ahead single was one of three perfectly placed singles in the frame as Teoscar Hernández sent a dribbler to the right side of the infield that Wilmer Flores had to lunge to his right to glove. The first baseman couldn’t make a clean exchange with Bivens over at the base, which extended the inning for Andy Páges. 

The Dodgers center fielder then dropped a softly hit single in front of Matos in right field to tack on a third run, and the Giants were held scoreless in the bottom of the frame.

The extra-inning defeat leaves the Giants 6.0 games behind the Dodgers in the National League West with 65 games left in the regular season. The loss means Posey’s club exits the first half with the seventh-best record in a National League playoff race in which the top six teams will earn postseason berths.

“We have a lot of fight,” Ray said. “I think we do a really good job of putting games like this behind us, moving forward and doing the job at hand.”

Here’s where the Giants stand entering the All-Star break, and where they might look to improve moving forward.

The Giants have one of the best one-two punches in baseball with All-Stars Logan Webb and Ray, and a third starter has emerged as a reliable force. Right-hander Landen Roupp posted a 3.27 ERA in 19 starts and held opponents to two runs or fewer in 11 of his final 13 outings before the break.

Justin Verlander is still winless, but if he throws as well as he did against the Phillies on Wednesday (6.0 IP, 2 ER), the Giants won’t have to worry about his turns in the rotation.

The biggest deadline question for Posey and co. is whether or not to acquire another starter, as 23-year-old Hayden Birdsong hasn’t consistently thrown strikes and Roupp could start to fatigue after logging fewer than 80 total innings between the majors and minors last year.

Trading for a solid starter might force the Giants to part with top pitching prospect Carson Whisenhunt, but it could be a gamble worth taking if they don’t believe the lefty — who pairs a good fastball with an outstanding changeup — can develop a solid third pitch.

Rodríguez is an All-Star and veteran Tyler Rogers is one of the best set-up arms in baseball, but the Giants still have some concerns at the back of the bullpen.

Walker and Doval have been inconsistent in the closer role, and both dealt with diminished velocity at points during the first half. Then there’s lefty Erik Miller, who had a 1.50 ERA in 36 games before landing on the injured list with a dreaded diagnosis of elbow inflammation.

The Giants expect Miller to return in the second half, but they probably need an insurance option and neither Joey Lucchesi nor Scott Alexander has extensive experience in high-leverage spots.

Relievers aren’t as difficult to acquire as starters, so Posey could follow Brian Sabean’s script from the 2010 deadline when he added Javier Lopez and Ramón Ramírez and seek out multiple arms.

Patrick Bailey is the best pitch framer in the majors, so the Giants can live with his subpar average and OPS. It doesn’t hurt that he has a penchant for delivering in clutch situations.

The Giants can’t, however, continue on with such minimal production from the backup spot. Sam Huff, Logan Porter, and Andrew Knizner have all taken turns on the 26-man roster this year, and none has seized an opportunity.

Assuming Posey doesn’t chase Braves catcher Sean Murphy, a former Melvin protégé in Oakland, there should be a handful of catchers available via a trade who could provide the type of marginal upgrade the Giants need behind Bailey.

The Giants would be better off exploring upgrades elsewhere as they’ve invested massive capital on the infield already. Adames and Matt Chapman are locked in on the left side of the infield and Schmitt has supplanted Tyler Fitzgerald as the preferred option at second base.

With Wilmer Flores and Dom Smith platooning at first, there’s no reason for the Giants to use Devers in the field. If Devers played first base, the Giants would wind up calling on Flores or Smith as the DH, so relying on veterans with experience at the position makes more sense.

The Giants’ top priority should be to make sure Devers is healthy enough to anchor a lineup that needs him at his best.

Heliot Ramos struggled at the end of the first half, but he carried the Giants’ lineup in May and June and does enough offensively to make up for all-too-frequent miscues in left field.

A subtle way the Giants could improve their outfield is adding a right-handed hitter who can handle playing all three positions to the mix. Matos entered Sunday with a .272 on-base percentage in 505 career plate appearances, and Melvin has often opted to keep Jung Hoo Lee and Mike Yastrzemski in the lineup when the Giants face left-handed starters.

A reunion with White Sox outfielder Austin Slater probably doesn’t make sense because he’s a liability in center field, but Twins outfielder Harrison Bader is an obvious fit if he’s available.