This story was originally published by Dead Spin
The San Francisco Giants embark on the do-or-die portion of their schedule when they open a three-game home series against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday night.
The Giants (68-70) trail the Diamondbacks (77-61) by nine games in the National League wild-card standings with just four weeks remaining in the regular season, but get six shots at Arizona among their final 24 games.
The Diamondbacks also have 24 games left after having completed their regular-season series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday with an 11-6 defeat. The Giants didn’t play Monday.
San Francisco also has nine games remaining against other teams ahead of it in the wild-card chase — six against the San Diego Padres and three against the St. Louis Cardinals. Arizona is one game behind San Diego for the top NL wild-card spot.
Both teams enter the series reeling a bit.
Needing every win in their uphill climb, the Giants have lost four of their past five, including two straight against the Miami Marlins.
The weekend wasn’t a total loss. When Mike Yastrzemski belted his 100th major league home run Sunday, he joined Carl Yastrzemski to become just the fourth grandfather/grandson duo to each hit triple-figure homers in their big-league careers.
The younger Yastrzemski says the Giants, while facing longshot odds, haven’t given up the fight.
“I feel like we’re still working the right way,” Mike Yastrzemski said. “We’re playing hard. The camaraderie is good. There’s not much more you can ask for, except winning. It’s just not falling our way. It’s disappointing.”
Getting the task of starting the series opener against the Diamondbacks on Monday will be left-hander Kyle Harrison (7-6, 4.22 ERA), who has done his best pitching at home this season. He’s allowed just seven runs over 29 1/3 innings in his past five starts at Oracle Park, with the Giants winning four of those contests.
The 23-year-old didn’t get a decision in a 7-3 home win over the Diamondbacks in April, and he took the loss in an 8-5 defeat at Arizona in June. Those were his only lifetime starts against the Diamondbacks, during which he’s amassed a 5.40 ERA.
Harrison can expect to see Arizona’s lefty-killer, Randal Grichuk, after he made just one start in the just-completed four-game Dodgers series.
Grichuk collected a single, double and home run with four RBIs in that start Sunday, then came through with a single and a walk after entering the game Monday as a pinch hitter.
“Playing a couple times a week is a tough role in this game,” Grichuk said. “Just got to go up there confident, and when the mechanics are clicking, then games like (Sunday) happen.”
Along with Grichuk, the Giants will face an Arizona team that had hoped to make up ground on the NL West-leading Dodgers with head-to-head matchups at home over the past four days. But Los Angeles took three of four, leaving the Diamondbacks six back and relegating them more likely to the wild-card race than a pursuit of the division crown.
Arizona will start the San Francisco series with right-hander Ryne Nelson (9-6, 4.22). He has allowed two runs or fewer in four consecutive starts, a stretch during which he’s gone 1-0 with a 2.42 ERA.
The 26-year-old has faced the Giants five times in his three-year major league career, including a pair of no-decisions this season in which he allowed two runs in 9 2/3 innings. He’s 1-0 lifetime with a 2.89 ERA against San Francisco.
–Field Level Media
