The Philadelphia Phillies strengthened their playoff position on Monday.
The goal now is to keep that momentum going.
Philadelphia defeated the Giants 10-4 to build a three-game lead over San Francisco in the National League wild-card race, and now the host Phillies will look to pull away even more on Tuesday when the teams meet again in the second game of a three-game set.
Boosted by an 11-8 record this month, the Phillies currently hold the top wild-card spot in the NL, 2 1/2 games above the Chicago Cubs, who have a half-game edge on the Giants.
Alec Bohm, Kyle Schwarber, Edmundo Sosa and Bryce Harper all homered on Monday in the series opener as the Phillies ripped 16 hits. Harper hit an inside-the-park home run, the second of his career.
Bohm had three hits and raised his batting average to .285.
"Every game is important," Bohm said during a postgame interview on NBC Sports Philadelphia. "Everybody kind of knows where the standings are. This time of year, we've got to bring it."
After a frustrating series in which Philadelphia dropped two of three games to the Washington Nationals, the Phillies bounced back in a big way.
"Everybody was doing their part," Bohm said. "A lot of smiles in the dugout."
The Phillies will hand the ball to right-hander Taijuan Walker (13-5, 4.03 ERA) on Tuesday.
Walker hasn't pitched since an outing against the Minnesota Twins on Aug. 12, when he allowed three hits and three runs in five innings to take the loss.
In eight career starts against the Giants, Walker is 3-3 with a 4.50 ERA.
The Giants will be looking to bounce back after Monday's six-run loss. Joc Pederson and LaMonte Wade Jr. each went deep on Monday, but it wasn't nearly enough offense for the Giants. San Francisco also committed three errors to fall for the third time on its current six-game road trip.
"Don't want to dwell on one (game), particularly one that didn't go well," Giants manager Gabe Kapler said.
Prospect Wade Meckler, who was playing in center field on Monday, went 0-for-4 and saw his batting average dip to .143. He also had a fielding error.
"It's pretty obvious that he's battling right now," Kapler said of Meckler. "He's battling in every capacity. Obviously it's not good enough and it's not helping us win baseball games, but at the same time this is when a coaching staff throws their support behind a young player."
The Giants will hand the ball to 22-year-old left-hander Kyle Harrison on Tuesday for his first major league start.
Harrison, the Giants' No. 1 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, was a third-round selection by San Francisco in the 2020 draft. He went 1-3 with a 4.66 ERA in 20 starts for Triple-A Sacramento this season.
Next stop, Citizens Bank Park.
"People tell me it's just the same game everywhere you go," Harrison said. "I'll keep that in mind and go out there and trust my stuff, do the best I can and try to help the boys win."
—Field Level Media