Giants ace Madison Bumgarner has been fantastic most of the season, but he has been particularly impressive the past few weeks as he heads into Saturday night's matchup with the Phillies in the second game of a three-game series at AT&T Park. After winning the series opener, the Giants have won 31 of their last 40 games, their best 40-game stretch since 1954, when they were the New York Giants.
Bumgarner (8-3, 1.85 ERA) is 4-1 with a 1.07 ERA in his last eight starts, and 4-2 with a 3.14 ERA in seven career starts against the Phillies.
Phillies right-hander Jeremy Hellickson (4-6, 4.41 ERA) has his work cut out for him. He allowed three runs in the first inning last week against the D-backs before finishing with six scoreless innings.
• Phillies first baseman Tommy Joseph has not started since Wednesday because of an illness. He could be back in the lineup on Saturday.
• The Giants are in the midst of a 29-game stretch against teams that are currently at or below .500.
• The Phillies have lost 13 of their last 16 games against the Giants.