Madison Bumgarner

The Giants’ starting pitching has been otherworldly over the last nine games.

The horse powered the Giants to a win in the last game of the road trip.

CINCINNATI (AP) Matt Harvey took a no-hit try into the sixth inning, Jose Peraza and Dilson Herrera backed him with home runs and the Cincinnati Reds dominated Madison Bumgarner and the San Francisco Giants 7-1 on Saturday night.

You’ve heard it before: the Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers are playing a series in the latter part of the season with huge playoff implications.

There’s an old saying that lightning never strikes the same place twice. On Monday and Tuesday, Giants manager Bruce Bochy saw evidence to disprove that saying.

Thursday night marked the start of a crucial four-game series between the Giants and the Arizona Diamondbacks, which started with a crucial 3-1 win by the Giants.

Following a seven-inning, 112-pitch start from Dereck Rodriguez and the loss of Johnny Cueto to the 10-day disabled list, manager Bruce Bochy is looking to give his starting pitchers some rest.

The Giants have made it clear to other teams that ace Madison Bumgarner is not available via trade, according to Jon Heyman of MLB.com.

Giants fans are upset. Despite having the second-highest payroll in baseball, the team is playing mediocre baseball at 52-53 and sits 5 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West division.

With Friday night’s 3-1 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, the Giants (52-53) have lost three straight games and five of their last six.