By Jeremy Harness

After a month of floundering and losing ground gradually, the Giants are now starting to hit their stride, which has been a common theme for a team that has won three World Series titles in five years, a team that starts getting the bounces going their way at the right time.

However, the Los Angeles Dodgers are not cooperating with the Giants’ plans, as they have continued to win themselves and currently hold a 7 ½-game advantage over the Giants in the National League West.

Neither are the Pittsburgh Pirates or the Chicago Cubs, as the Giants are 6 ½ games out of the second and final wild-card spot, which was the route the Giants had taken to win their previous two titles.

These are substantial deficits, especially given the fact that there are only two weeks left in the season.

Of course, the Giants have not been mathematically eliminated from postseason contention, so all they can do at this point is keep playing. The Giants hope to keep their winning ways going in a three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks that starts Friday night at AT&T Park.

Madison Bumgarner (18-7, 2.91 ERA) will take the mound in this series opener and faces Arizona’s Rubby De La Rosa (12-8, 4.75 ERA). The numbers seem to bode very well in the Giants’ favor, as they have won 12 of their past 16 home games, including five of the six games on this current homestand.

The reason why this is important is after a brief road trip to San Diego and a series across the bay in Oakland, the Giants have a four-game home series against the Dodgers, a scenario that they have had great success this season, as well as a three-gamer at AT&T Park against Colorado to end the season.