Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Harness

So the Warriors and the Giants have something in common after Thursday: they will both hope to get bounce-back efforts after being humbled in the city of Houston.

The Warriors are facing elimination from the NBA playoffs after a loss to the Rockets in the Toyota Center on Thursday and will head home in search of answers. The Giants, on the other hand, had the day off on Thursday and have had a full day to process what happened to them.

Thankfully for the Giants, they don’t have to win their very next game to keep their season alive, but they do need to find a way to get things back on track after dropping two straight games to the Astros at Minute Maid Park.

That starts with a three-game series with the Chicago Cubs inside of Wrigley Field, which starts Friday afternoon.

The Giants will start the series with left-hander Derek Holland (2-5, 4.94 ERA) on the mound against Chicago righty Kyle Hendricks (3-3, 3.40 ERA). Holland has lost two of the last three decisions, the latest being a 6-1 loss at the hands of the Rockies last Friday, during which he surrendered four runs on six hits, walking one and striking out three.

Hendricks, meanwhile, also gave up four runs on six hits in his last outing, a 5-4 loss at Cincinnati last Friday, but he got away with a no-decision. However, he enters Friday’s matchup having dropped two of his past three decisions as well.

Chris Stratton (5-3, 4.92 ERA) will take the ball on Saturday opposite Cubs lefty Jose Quintana (5-3, 4.47 ERA). Stratton has won three of his last four, as he beat Colorado last Saturday, 8-4, after giving up four runs on eight hits.

Quintana has won two of his past three decisions, his last outing being a dominant performance at Cincinnati last Saturday that saw him give up only a single hit over seven innings in a 10-0 win.

To close out the series, lefty Ty Blach (3-4) will take the hill against Chicago righty Yu Darvish (1-3).