By Morris Phillips

The Giants are playing better baseball. Can they keep it up?

Starting with Tuesday’s opponent, the Tigers and emerging starting pitcher, Michael Fullmer, the challenges keep coming. But for the Giants, hopefully the breaks as well. The Tigers aren’t struggling to the extent that the Giants are, but at 36-45, the AL Central club is off to their worst season start since 2003.

The Giants were on pace for their worst season showing since 1985. That club was the only San Francisco Giants team to lose 100 games. But the Giants have finally started hitting in a season-best six-game win streak.

“Getting timely hits, that’s huge for us,” Brandon Belt said.

In the win streak, the Giants have improved their scoring by more than two runs a game. They’ve also rallied for a couple of wins, and seen their bullpen become stingy for the first time all year. In total, the Giants are doing everything they hadn’t been doing.

That’s the rhythm of the game,” Jeff Samardzija said. “So much about this game is about momentum and confidence.”

Offensively, Denard Span has led the resurgence, the outfielder came up with 40 his in June. No Giant had collected that many hits in a month sine 2005. Belt is swinging a hot bat, as is Joe Panik. Buster Posey, the NL’s leading hitter with a .340 average, has continued to do his thing at the plate.

Sam Dyson was designated for assignment by the Rangers, but in 10 appearances with the Giants, he’s been steady. Manager Bruce Bochy has vowed to use the right hander in a late game, setup role going forward.