First pitch: Thursday, 10:15 p.m. ET
Line: New York +145, San Francisco -155, Total: 6.5

The Giants will be looking to get themselves back on track with a win over the Mets on Thursday.

The Giants will be hoping to avoid a fifth straight loss when they host the Mets in this game, but both teams have really struggled lately. New York was seemingly a lock to make the postseason before the season, but the team now finds itself 10.5 games back in the division and four games back in the NL Wild Card race. The Giants, meanwhile, now find themselves out of the division lead after losing seven of their past 10 games. Both teams are desperate at this point and that will make for an exciting game on Thursday. The starters in this matchup will be RHP Jacob deGrom (7-5, 2.30 ERA, 129 K) for New York and LHP Madison Bumgarner (11-7, 2.11 ERA, 189 K) for San Francisco. The Giants are fortunate to be at home in this game, as they are 4-2 against the Mets in San Francisco over the past three seasons. It is, however, worth noting that New York is 26-10 against the money line after three or more consecutive OVERS in the past two seasons. 2B Neil Walker (Back) is questionable for the Mets in this one, but it’s more likely he won’t play. OF Yoenis Cespedes (Quad) isn’t eligible to be activated until Friday for New York and his presence will be missed greatly.

New York needs to find a way to get back into the win column and Wild Card race and Jacob deGrom will be the guy hoping to get them moving in the right direction on Thursday. The righty has been nearly unhittable over the past four games, allowing just two earned runs total in that span. One thing deGrom is doing well is avoiding both homers and walks. If he can do that on Thursday then the Mets should be in pretty good shape. In his only start against San Francisco this season, deGrom pitched six innings and allowed three runs. None of those runs were owned, though. New York would surely take another performance like that from him in this meeting. Offensively, the Mets will likely need OF Jay Bruce (.254, 27 HR, 86 RBI) to step it up in this one. Bruce is just 3-for-18 in his career against Bumgarner, but he does have a homer and four RBI. With Walker and Cespedes likely out, he’s the best hitter in this lineup and must set the tone on Thursday.

The Giants are really struggling right now and Madison Bumgarner is on the mound to stop the bleeding on Thursday. The lefty is coming off of a very strong outing against the Orioles, allowing no earned runs in seven innings of work on Aug. 13. He struck out eight batters in that game and will be hoping to carry over that momentum into this one. Fortunately for him Bumgarner, he’ll be facing a Mets lineup that is extremely depleted at the moment. Offensively, the Giants badly need SS Brandon Crawford (.271, 11 HR, 74 RBI) and C Buster Posey (.294, 12 HR, 57 RBI) to figure out how to hit deGrom. These two guys are the best hitters San Francisco has to offer and they are a combined 0-for-13 against the Mets righty in their careers. If they can’t find a way to produce then this game might get away from the Giants.