The Giants got a taste of their own medicine Thursday and missed a chance to head into Los Angeles tied for first place.

Uncharacteristic wildness by reliever Randy Rodriguez and an error by third baseman Casey Schmitt in the ninth inning helped contribute to a three-run ninth by the Colorado Rockies in an 8-7 win over the Giants at Coors Field.

Orlando Arcia lined a single to left to drive in the winning runs. Rodriguez gave up three runs in a 43-pitch ninth inning. The Giants had an opportunity to win the game on a double play, but an error by Schmitt allowed the first run to score and set up Arcia’s game-winner.

The loss ended a seven-game win streak for the Giants, who head into Dodger Stadium with a 40-29 record, a game behind the Dodgers as the longtime geographical rivals will play their first series of the season. The loss flipped the script in a painful way for a team that has won 17 games this season when trailing by multiple runs.

“Little things that we’ve been pretty good at, especially in these tight games, ended up costing us today,” Giants manager Bob Melvin told reporters.

Dominic Smith hit a three-run home run for the Giants in the fifth inning and appeared to put the Giants in command. Hayden Birdsong pitched the first six innings for the Giants, followed by Sean Hjelle, Erik Miller and Ryan Walker before Rodriguez came undone in the ninth to fall to 3-1.

With closer Camilo Doval unavailable after closing consecutive games and the Giants clinging to a 7-5 lead, Melvin opted to use Walker as the set-up man and Rodriguez as the closer. Walker pitched a dominant scoreless eighth.

Rodriguez came in with an 0.61 earned run average and just three walks in 29 1/3 innings, but here’s how it went in the ninth:

Jordan Beck hit a deep drive to left that Jung Hoo Lee ran down at the fence for the first out.

Sam Hilliard walked.

Former Giant Thairo Estrada hit a drive that Heliot Ramos fielded then dropped. It was ruled a double and runners were at second and third.

Ryan McMahon walked.

Brenton Doyle’s double play ball is booted by Schmitt, scoring Hilliard, leaving runners at second and third.

Pinch hitter Hunter Goodman strikes out swinging.

Arcia singles in the winning runs.

Giants starter Hayden Birdsong left with a 7-3 lead but got no decision after six innings of work. A.P. Photo

Birdsong gave up three earned runs with two walks and six strikeouts. He threw 104 pitches, 67 of them strikes, his most pitches of the season and second most in his career.

“To throw 104 pitches, which is like 125 here, was great,” Melvin said. “He gave up six innings and obviously left with a comfortable lead.”

Colorado, with the worst record in baseball, improved to 13-54 and broke a trend where the Giants have been beating up on teams with inferior records. The Giants fell to 21-7 against teams with records under .500. Seth Halvorsen was the winning pitcher for Colorado, evening his record at 1-1.

Mickey Moniak homered off Birdsong with one out in the sixth inning, an opposite-field drive to left field that kept carrying in the mile-high altitude. It was his seventh of the season. Colorado got to Hjelle in the seventh on a two-run single by Estrada.

Smith’s home run against starter Antonio Senzatela (1-11) gave the Giants some breathing room after the Rockies had closed within two runs. It was a no-doubter into the upper deck in right field that traveled 433 feet and left the bat at 106.2 miles per hour for his first home run as a Giant.

It scored Mike Yastrzemski, who walked, and Wilmer Flores, who opened the inning with a double

Colorado scored twice in the fourth after Birdsong had recorded two quick outs. Doyle reached base on a blind stab attempt at a comebacker by Birdsong — which probably would have been fielded for an out had he let it go — with Moniak hitting a single to right and Arcia drawing a walk.

Ryan Ritter then singled in two runs with a hard grounder that got past a backhand attempt by Willy Adames at shortstop.

The Giants struck for four runs in the second against Senzatela, with Tyler Fitzgerald hitting a sacrifice fly, Logan Porter hitting a run-scoring single, and Ramos hitting a two-run single.

L.A. series amidst protests

The Giants arrive for the three-game series as Los Angeles is in the national spotlight due to protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids. President Donald Trump has deployed the National Guard to the city over California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s objections. Dodger Stadium is two miles from downtown and more protests are expected Saturday.

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How the pitching rotation shapes up for a three-game series in Los Angeles against the Dodgers:

Friday: Logan Webb (5-5, 2.58) vs. Yoshinobu Yamamoto (6-4, 2.20), 7:10 p.m.

Saturday: Landen Roupp (4-4, 3.29) vs. Clayton Kershaw (1-0, 4.35), 7:10 p.m.

Sunday: Kyle Harrison (1-1, 4.56) vs. Dustin May (3-4, 4.46), 4:10 p.m.