San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey, left, celebrates with Sam Dyson after a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies in San Francisco, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2017. The Giants won 5-4. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

By Jeremy Harness

SAN FRANCISCO – After yet another tough stretch, the Giants were sure glad to see the Philadelphia Phillies in their home ballpark.

For that matter, so was Jeff Samardzija. After a miserable start to his 2017 campaign, Samardzija has now won four of his last five decisions dating back to July 26, thanks to a 5-4 win over the Philadelphia Phillies, the only other team in the National League with a worse record than the Giants this year, at AT&T Park Thursday night.

What makes this especially sweet for the tall righty is the fact that he did not have a very history against this ballclub. Entering Thursday, Samardzija had not seen the Phillies in three years and was 1-4 with an 8.67 ERA in his career against them.

He did get quite a bit of help, however. The one-time Notre Dame wide receiver was given a four-run lead but leaked some serious oil down the stretch before his bullpen came in and slammed the door on the Phillies and preserved the win for him.

For his part, Samardzija (8-12) went six innings and surrendered four runs on eight hits, walking one and striking out six in getting the win.

His pitching counterpart, Aaron Nola (9-8), came into Thursday on a nice roll, surrendering only six runs over his last five starts.

The Giants were able to get going against Nola by using their legs. Kelby Tomlinson led off the third inning by stretching a bloop single into a double. Three batters later, Hunter Pence flared a single into left-center to bring Tomlinson around. After Jarrett Parker drew a walk, Pence came around when Buster Posey scooted one past second to give the Giants a 2-0 advantage.

After Cameron Rupp’s solo shot in the top of the fifth, the Giants pushed the lead back up in the bottom half when Parker hit one into the gap in right-center and scored a pair of runs.

Denard Span had actually intended to tag up at second and got a late start toward the plate while Pence, who was at first, got a full head of steam and came up right behind Span as the two men headed toward third and ended up crossing the plate only a few feet apart.

The Gints could have done even more damage, however. Brandon Crawford singled into left-center to score Parker, but Buster Posey, who had walked during the previous at-bat, was thrown out at third, after he slid in safely but had his momentum carry him off the bag.

The Phillies did get to Samardzija in the top of the sixth, bringing two runs across before he got a single out. Samardzija would surrender another run to narrow the lead to a single run, but he was able to escape with the lead still intact.

The Giants bullpen took care of matters from there, as three relievers combined to give up only a walk and a single for the remaining three innings, with Sam Dyson assuming the closer’s role. One-time closer Mark Melancon, who returned from the disabled list last Saturday after missing 36 games with a right pronator strain, gave up the lone hit after Samardzija left the game.