By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO — You’ve gotta win to be in it. Right now, the Giants are a step removed from winning.

They’re struggling just to compete after a third, consecutive sleepy loss to the Nationals at Oracle Park, and they’re barely in it, seeing their foothold in the wild card race slip away.

After a torrid 19-6 July, the Giants have lost six of seven in August. What’s worse, they’ve looked lifeless in front of the home fans that have waited all season to see some fireworks.  In all three games against Washington, the Giants fell behind 4-0. The closest semblance to a rally came Tuesday night, and it stalled two runs short.

“We had some of that mojo going but we’ve lost a little bit of it,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “How we get it back is a big thing. Right now, we are just not clicking.”

The Giants appeared to give themselves a boost by keeping their roster together for a stretch run at a playoff berth, a nod to all the upward movement achieved in July. A week later, besides keeping Madison Bumgarner, most would be hard pressed to recount all the moves. On Wednesday, more memorable was that the Nats took flight on the strength of a three-run homer from Gerardo Parra, who was released by the Giants in May after hitting .198 over 30 games.

Since joining the Nationals, Parra has hit .287 and his home run that increased their lead to 4-0 was his sixth since he was released.

“I say every time, thank you to the San Francisco Giants for giving me the opportunity to play the first month,” Parra said.

Parra’s home run left starting pitcher Shaun Anderson cooked once again. The rookie hurler hasn’t won since June 28, a span of seven starts. While the Giants won four of those starts, Anderson has trended downward, seeing his ERA balloon to 5.33. Anderson’s struggles mirror those of the Giants’ rookie starting pitchers, who haven’t won an assignment since Tyler Beede on July 14.

Offensively, the Giants produced three singles and three doubles, which added up to one, ninth inning run knocked home by Brandon Crawford. Similar to Monday’s matchup, the Giants appeared to have an edge facing Joe Ross, who is trying to establish himself at the big league level after injuries cost him almost all of 2018. But Ross had the upper hand, allowing three hits and two walks while striking out five in six innings of work.

The Giants benefitted from a wild card race that saw no one run away from the pack in July. But with their recent stretch of losses, the Giants are seeing the pack run away from them. Now four games behind the Phillies, the Giants have two other teams–the streaking Mets and Diamondbacks–between them and the second wild card spot. What’s more troubling, the next four games against the Phillies will be their final games against wild card contenders not in the NL West.

On Thursday, Madison Bumgarner will take the mound in a match up with Aaron Nola of Philadelphia.

NOTES: Steven Duggar left Wednesday’s game after reinjuring his shoulder making a diving catch. He’ll get an MRI with the hope he can avoid a return trip to the injured list.