3 reasons why things may be looking up for Giants

ATLANTA -- After the Giants squandered Saturday's game on a go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth inning, the team faced a similar outcome Sunday at Truist Park. But this time, San Francisco overcame adversity en route to a 4-3 win over the Braves.

After the Braves tied the game in the eighth when Ronald Acuña Jr. scored on a throwing error by catcher Patrick Bailey, the Giants rebounded by reaching base three straight times in the top of the ninth via Michael Conforto’s leadoff walk and back-to-back hit-by-pitches to Thairo Estrada and Wilmer Flores. Those plate appearances set up pinch-hitter Joc Pederson’s two-out RBI walk for the go-ahead run.

“That's the nitty-gritty wins that got us into the position we’re at right now,” Pederson said. “The Braves are pretty easily the best team in baseball right now, and I truly believe we should have won the series.”

San Francisco snapped its three-game losing skid and ended Atlanta’s five-game winning streak. Despite losing their fifth consecutive series, the Giants (65-59) remained in second in the National League West and in sole possession of the second NL Wild Card spot. They trail the Phillies by 2 1/2 games for the first NL Wild Card spot pending the outcome of Philadelphia’s game vs. the Nationals in the Little League Classic on Sunday evening.

With head-to-head records the first determining factor regarding tiebreakers in the standings, San Francisco leads Philadelphia, 3-1, with three games remaining between the clubs in a series beginning Monday. The Giants are down to the Cubs, currently the third NL Wild Card team, two games to one with three remaining.

“That's a big, resilient on-the-road win versus a really, really tough team under some really challenging circumstances,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “And [it] wasn't the prettiest, but we'll all take it and get on the plane happy and get ready for Philadelphia.”

Here are three reasons San Francisco should feel optimistic heading to its big series vs. Philadelphia:

Capable pitching
The Giants have endured a gauntlet of tough opponents, including the Rangers and Rays and the latest being baseball’s best Braves. San Francisco held one of MLB’s highest-scoring offenses to four runs on Friday, six runs on Saturday and three runs on Sunday. With reliable rotation members in Alex Cobb and Logan Webb and the quality arms in its bullpen, the club has shown it can pitch in games against contenders.

“Great job. A lot of good defense picking me up,” said reliever Tristan Beck, who struck out three batters Sunday in three scoreless innings. “I’ve just got to go right after these guys and was able to do that and kind of command location a little bit better today than I'd maybe have recently, and [it] felt good to keep the boys in the game.”

Offense is figuring it out
Entering Sunday, the Giants struggled to hit and plate runs, scoring 135 runs and posting a .212 batting average and .334 slugging percentage -- each of which ranked as the lowest in baseball.

San Francisco’s offense showed signs of life Saturday, with LaMonte Wade Jr.’s first-pitch homer, and Sunday, with Matos and Flores each belting a home run. The club recorded 11 hits on Saturday and 10 hits on Sunday. It was the first time the Giants had back-to-back games with 10 or more hits since July 29 and 30 against Boston.

“We've been in a funk, and there's a lot of trends that are coming out of it,” Pederson said. “We put up some runs the other day, had some good at-bats today against one of the better pitchers in the game, so [we’re] back playing baseball that we were playing at the start of the year.”

Calling up the top prospect
With the back end of the Giants’ rotation in flux due to injuries, the team decided it was time to call up Kyle Harrison, the organization’s No. 1 prospect per MLB Pipeline and its most hyped pitching prospect since Madison Bumgarner. Harrison is ranked 20th overall on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 Prospects list and the No. 1 left-handed pitching prospect.

Harrison has made 20 starts this season for Triple-A Sacramento and recorded a 4.66 ERA with 105 strikeouts to 48 walks over 65 2/3 innings. He is expected to start Tuesday against Philadelphia and will try to help San Francisco win games as the season winds down.

“The last couple of outings, I think he's taking some real steps forward,” Kapler said. “We think he's ready to come up and help us win baseball games. That's like the most important thing.”