By Jeremy Harness

The Giants desperately need to get some kind of momentum, and they really need to get it pretty quickly. They are losing ground in the National League West in trying to catch up to a team that surpasses them in talent, not to mention payroll.

Lo and behold, here come the Philadelphia Phillies, the team that sits in last place in the NL East, and who will pay a visit to AT&T Park for a three-game series that will either give the Giants a real chance to get back into the division race or sink them further into the abyss.

As it stands right now, the Giants are 5½ games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers, who kick of a three-game home series of their own on Friday against Milwaukee, a team that certainly has something to play for, since they are on top of their division, the NL Central.

In other words, if there is a chance for the Giants to make up some real ground in the NL West race, this is it.

They will have the right guy to start things off, for sure. The Giants will send lefty Madison Bumgarner (13-9) to the mound to face Philadelphia’s Cole Hamels (6-6).

However, the Giants may be catching Hamels at the wrong time, as the lefty has not surrendered a single run in any of his last five starts, while going at least seven innings in each of them. Overall, he has a 2.37 earned-run average.

In addition, Bumgarner has not been his normal self at home. In the last two months, he sports a 1-3 record with a 6.99 ERA at AT&T Park. The Giants will need to have him put those struggles to an end very quickly, or they could get those “here we go again” feelings, which is something to avoid at a time like this, particularly in a division race that is quickly getting away from them.