The San Francisco Giants are doing their best to make a last-second push at the playoffs despite their increasingly thin chances.
They have to like their chances to knock off the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night with Madison Bumgarner on the mound.
San Francisco (77-69) has won eight of 11 while batting .307 with 6.1 runs per game and a 2.85 ERA, but a seven-game losing streak prior to that stretch may be too difficult to recover from. The Giants are 7 1/2 games back of NL West-leading Los Angeles and eight out in the wild-card race.
Most metrics give them less than a one percent chance of reaching the postseason, meaning this would be the third straight time they've followed a World Series title by missing the playoffs the following year.
Bumgarner (18-7, 2.91 ERA) has been doing his best to keep San Francisco in the race, going 7-1 with a 1.81 ERA in his last eight starts. He owns a 12.2 strikeout-to-walk ratio in that span, nearly doubling his career-high 6.6 mark on the season.
He yielded only a two-out single in the eighth inning Saturday against San Diego, striking out nine in the 8-0 victory.
"What an incredible performance," manager Bruce Bochy told MLB's official website. "We're all a little disappointed, but yet, you witnessed just a beautiful game he threw tonight."
It was the fifth career shutout for Bumgarner, who recorded his third complete game in seven starts.
"I'm here to win games. That's it," said the left-hander, who's looking to win 19 for the first time. "All the other stuff is really cool and I'll take it. It would definitely be special, but winning is what I like most."
Bumgarner is 9-2 with a 1.85 ERA in 15 home starts, including a 1.31 mark in the last nine, and 5-2 with a 1.94 ERA in his past 13 outings against Arizona.
Though the Diamondbacks (69-77) are eight games behind San Francisco, they own a 9-7 advantage in the season series with Giants starters recording only five quality starts behind a 4.68 ERA.
Paul Goldschmidt is batting .188 in his last 10 games, though his .362 average against lefties is one of baseball's highest. David Peralta is batting .306 during a 13-game hitting streak, the longest active run in the majors.
Arizona's Rubby De La Rosa (12-8, 4.75) has set a career high in wins, though he owes a great deal of that accomplishment to his offense, which has backed him with five or more runs in eight of his victories.
The right-hander struggled mightily of late, posting an 8.50 ERA in his last four turns. He's coming off the shortest start of his career, lasting two innings and allowing six runs and nine hits - two homers - in Saturday's 9-5 loss to the Dodgers.
De La Rosa was excellent in his last start at AT&T Park, going eight innings in a 4-0 victory June 14. He came in with a 6.62 ERA in four previous appearances against San Francisco.
Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford is expected to return after missing seven games with tightness in his calf and left side. Crawford hit .093 in his last 11 contests, but he's 5 for 12 with two homers against De La Rosa.
