SAN FRANCISCO -- The Giants find themselves in an odd situation this week.
There are no must-win games in August, but when you're trying to hang on in the MLB playoff race and a team that's 30-95 is in the other dugout, well, you pretty much must win.
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They did on the first night against the Chicago White Sox, riding a strong start from Kyle Harrison to a 5-3 victory at Oracle Park that nudged them back above .500.
Harrison allowed one run over six innings, and the lineup finally broke through in the fifth against White Sox righty Jonathan Cannon. Chicago cut a four-run deficit in half in the eighth, but Jordan Hicks came on an inning later and picked up his first save as a Giant.
By winning for a second consecutive day, the Giants kept pace with the New York Mets and made up a sliver of ground on the Atlanta Braves, who were off Monday.
While hovering around .500 most of the season, the Giants have been wholly unable to grab momentum, but this week presents as good an opportunity as any. The Braves are set for three against the first-place Philadelphia Phillies, while the Giants have two more games against a White Sox team that is 3-25 in the second half and has just a dozen road wins all season.
San Francisco Giants
Six Strong
Harrison cruised through the first two innings, but a double, walk and bunt single loaded the bases with no outs in the third. He found a way out of the jam despite the top of the order coming up. Lenyn Sosa swung through a sharp slider for a strikeout, and Luis Robert Jr., Chicago's best player, hit a sharp grounder that turned into a double play.
Harrison got through six for just the second time since the start of July. For the third time in six second-half starts, he allowed fewer than two runs, lowering his ERA to an even 4.00.
The effort pushed Harrison to 117 innings on the season, surpassing his previous professional high. He threw 113 combined innings at two minor league stops in 2022.
Happy Chappy
Matt Chapman jumped on a hanging slider in the bottom of the sixth, becoming the first Giant to reach 20 homers in 2024. This is the fifth 20-homer season of his career and third in his last four seasons.
The Giants had just one player -- Wilmer Flores -- reach that mark last season, but Chapman should get some company over the next 35 games. Heliot Ramos needs just two homers to join Chapman, and it wouldn't surprise anyone if Tyler Fitzgerald got there, too, given how hot he has been in the second half. Fitzgerald, who had a double Monday, is currently at 14.
Emergency Catcher
Patrick Bailey was a late scratch because of right side tightness, and Curt Casali made the most of a rare opportunity. Casali's hard single up the middle in the fifth tied the game and kicked off a four-run rally. Another single later in the game gave him his first two-hit night since June 18.
Since a doubleheader on July 27 that required both catchers, Casali had made just two starts. The Giants are riding Bailey hard, although the second-year catcher continues to tell manager Bob Melvin that he feels good physically. Bailey has just three hits over his last 53 at-bats and came out early for extra hitting, which perhaps contributed to the sore side.
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