The Giants faced one of their biggest challenges of the season, and were not able to stifle the Nationals until the last game of the series. This was the first losing series for the Giants since they faced the Pirates in May, and this was the first time the Giants lost three in a row since the middle of April.

The point being that the Giants will have streaks like these in 162 games where they are unable to make the hits they need to make, and where the pitching won't always be the best. The good news is that they only lost one game in the standings to the Dodgers, after they split their 4 game series in Cincinnati.

In Game 1: Ryan Vogelsong in the first game was unable to get an easy inning until the 5th, putting himself into a jam in nearly every inning he pitched. The Giants were unable to respond to the four runs the Nationals put up in the first three innings, and the Nationals eventually added onto their lead in the later innings. Stephen Strasburg was able to get out of most of the jams the Giants put him into, and by the 4th inning the pitching had settled into a groove.

In Game 2: Madison Bumgarner faired better against the National's lineup, striking out five over seven innnings. He did give up two runs in the fifth, but the Giants were not able to get it going against Fister. The Giants were unable to score a run until the ninth inning. Brandon Crawford, who has become hot with the bat recently, tripled to lead off the ninth. Fellow middle infielder Brandon Hicks hit a ground ball to Adam LaRoche at first, and the Giants put up a run. Unfortunately the Giants couldn't get anymore runs and would fall to the Nationals by one run.

In Game 3: Matt Cain struggled early, giving up three straight walks in the first inning, and throwing a total of 36 pitches in that same inning. The Nationals were able to capitalize on an odd strikezone from Phil Cuzzi, and exercised great discipline at the plate. As the Giants started chipping away against Tanner Roark, Jayson Werth decided to throw a wrench into the proverbial gears, to the tune of the solo shot in the fifth and a two-run single in the ninth to seal the deal. The Giants again weren't able to capitalize with runners in scoring position, dropping their third straight to the Nationals.

In Game 4: Tim Hudson, in a complete 180, was able to stifle the Nationals offense and get out of some jams, he struck out five over seven innings, and dropped his ERA down to a league leading 1.81. He was dealing while the Giants were able to get the hits they so desperately needed earlier in the series. The Giants prevented the sweep thanks to RBIs from Colvin, Crawford, Blanco, Sandoval and Sanchez. Machi dropped his ERA to 0.31, and Romo put in an inning of work as well to close the door on the Nationals.

While it seemed like all hope was lost after the first the games, the Giants did show signs of life throughout the series. Hitting was most certainly not the issue as the Giants got 39 hits total in the series, but it was the lack of hitting with runners in scoring position in the first three games. The Giants did prevent the sweep, which was crucial in this homestand.

The Giants will now face the Rockies in a three game set before heading on the road. The Rockies won two straight against the Braves this week, but have dropped 7 of their last 10. The last time the Rockies played at AT&T Park was a weekend series in April, in which the Giants took 2 out of 3.