San Francisco Giants third base coach Mark Hallberg, left, and Brandon Crawford celebrate a home run in the sixth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field in Denver on Sun Sep 17, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

Time is running out on the 2023 MLB season. With 12 games left in the season now is the time for the San Francisco Giants to step up and they have to do it Tuesday as they take on the Diamondbacks for a short two-game series.

Arizona is 2 1/2 games ahead of the Giants in the Wild Card race and San Francisco remains in the sixth spot two games back of the Wild Card. Losing the first three games of the series with the Colorado Rockies this past weekend did the Giants no favors.

They are now facing some very challenging series to finish up the season which includes two series with the Los Angeles Dodgers. It’s a close and crowded field this year in the NL with six teams five games apart in the Wild Card race.

The Giants cannot afford any more lapses; they have to finish the final lap on a winning note. San Francisco is not the only a Wild Card contender that have tough final series coming up. The Phillies, Marlins, Cubs, Reds and Diamondbacks all have upcoming series that will challenge them. It just comes down to who wants it more.

Tuesday the Giants (76-74) will take on the Diamondbacks (79-72) in Arizona. This series is a short one with only two games before heading to Los Angeles for a date with the Dodgers, a four game series. While the Giants cannot control what the aforementioned teams will do, they can control their own destiny and it all begins Tuesday night in Arizona.

After three straight losses to the Colorado Rockies in their last series, the Giants got back on track winning game four Sunday 11-10. San Francisco very nearly gave up another walk-off to the Rockies.

The Giants led 9-0 going into the bottom of the sixth inning. San Francisco allowed five runs in the sixth inning and another four runs in the ninth inning barely winning the game. Of course there are two ways to look at this game. It’s a good thing that they were able to hang onto the lead however letting the Rockies offense explode and very nearly take the game was not encouraging.

Tuesday, the Giants take the first step in game 1 of the Diamondback series. Probable starting pitcher for San Francisco will be Alex Cobb with a 7-6 win/loss record and a 3.62 ERA. The Giants offense will face Zac Gallen with an impressive 15-8 win/loss record and a 3.50 ERA.

Arizona has some heavy hitters in Christian Walker with 30 homers and 93 RBIs and Corbin Carroll with a .279 batting average. The Giants also have an impressive roster with standouts Wilmer Flores, Thairo Flores and J.D. Davis. The final leg of this seemingly endless journey begins Tuesday night at Chase Field.