Can San Francisco Giants Continue to Make Postseason Case Against Struggling Braves?

The San Francisco Giants are continuing their do-or-die series against the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday evening.

Aug 13, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants pitching coach Bryan Price (80) visits the mound to speak with pitcher Kyle Harrison (45) during the second inning against the Atlanta Braves at Oracle Park. / Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

The San Francisco Giants clawed their way back into the National League playoff picture, taking advantage of a soft spot in their schedule. They were presented with a golden opportunity this week, playing a four-game series against an Atlanta Braves team right ahead of them in the standings.

The Giants entered the series winning 12 out of 17 games. They were catching the Braves at the perfect time, as Atlanta had lost seven out of their last eight games. 

It wasn’t stiff competition that the Braves were facing, either. They were swept by the Milwaukee Brewers in three games but lost four out of six games against the Miami Marlins and Colorado Rockies, who are both 30+ games under the .500 mark as of writing.

Unfortunately for San Francisco, they have let this incredible opportunity slip through their fingers. They have lost the first two games of the series, dropping the opener 1-0 in 10 innings and then 4-3 on Tuesday night.

Wednesday’s matchup is as close to a must-win game as a team can have in mid-August. The Giants need to do everything in their power to salvage the final two games of this series and climb back within 1.5 games of the final wild card spot.

That pressure will fall upon the left arm of Robbie Ray. 2-1 on the season with a 3.98 ERA after making his debut on July 24th, he will be taking the mound against Grant Holmes. Holmes is 0-0 on the season with a 3.79 ERA, as this will be his fourth start after beginning the season with 10 appearances out of the bullpen.

San Francisco is favored in the game with a moneyline of -129. Atlanta is +109 underdogs and the over/under for the game is set at 7.5 runs.

Tonight is a rare occurrence as the Braves have been underdogs only 18 times this season. That speaks volumes to how highly-regarded the team is despite some brutal injuries and underwhelming play over the last few weeks.

The first two games of this series have epitomized the 2024 season for the Giants. They have been unable to consistently get every facet of the game clicking at the same time against better competition.

They steamrolled through teams with losing records, but can’t put it together against playoff teams. When their pitching staff is performing at a high level, the bats go silent. If they are hitting, the pitching staff is falling short of expectations.

It has been the cycle all season in the Bay Area and one they are hoping to break starting Wednesday night behind Ray.