By Jeremy Harness

Sure, the Giants have stared down sizable deficits in the final month of the season before, and they have come out victorious in the past.

However, in order to make that happen, they have made some serious headway to get within striking distance. That has not happened after the first full week of September, and as a result, the deficit that they face in the National League West has not changed much.

With the NL wild card well out of reach at this point – they are nine games back of both the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs – the Giants’ only hope seems to be in winning their division.

At a time where they need series wins at the very least, the Giants split their four-game series with Colorado before losing two of three on the road to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers are going in the opposite direction and have turned it on in time for the home stretch. Besides sweeping the Giants in a three-game series to begin the month, they took three of four from the Padres while winning two out of three over the Angels to boost their lead to 8 ½ games at press time with only three weeks to play.

It continues to be said, but it is a must that the Giants get it in gear very quickly, starting with a three-game home series against the San Diego Padres, a team that they have had great success against at AT&T Park over the years.

After that series, the Giants will face the Reds and the Diamondbacks at home before hitting the road (well, sort of) to face the Athletics. If the Giants have not made progress by this point, they will most likely be watching the postseason from afar.