Giants hit August after best July in a century

The visiting San Francisco Giants will be looking to clinch a series win when they battle the Philadelphia Phillies in the finale Thursday afternoon.

San Francisco will be searching for its ninth win in the last 13 games in the series finale against the Phillies.

The red-hot Giants closed the month of July with a 19-6 record, their best record in July since 1913.

The Giants received home runs from Pablo Sandoval, Buster Posey and Kevin Pillar in a 5-1 win on Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, the Giants made a bevy of moves before the trade deadline, highlighted by relievers Drew Pomeranz and Ray Black being shipped to Milwaukee. The Giants also traded reliever Mark Melancon to the Atlanta Braves.

The Giants also acquired second baseman Scooter Gennett from the Cincinnati Reds and opted not to deal star left hander Madison Bumgarner.

"Let's ride this thing out because we really think we can do something special," first baseman Brandon Belt told reporters.

After being stuck in an 0-for-17 slump, Belt homered on Tuesday and walked twice in Wednesday's win.

"I didn't change my approach," Belt said. "I tried to stay the same. It might just be different because of where you are in the lineup. But it was different. I know it was for some. It was something I needed to adjust to."

The Giants had to make some roster adjustments after the trades and it appears that right-hander Dereck Rodriguez will start on Thursday. Rodriguez, who is 4-5 with a 4.99 earned run average, was recalled from Triple-A Sacramento.

The Phillies had won two straight before Wednesday's flat effort and finished the month of July with a 12-11 mark.

Philadelphia also received some difficult news earlier Wednesday that reliever David Robertson will miss the remainder of the season with an elbow injury. Robertson, who signed a two-year, $23 million contract in the offseason, may ultimately need Tommy John surgery.

"I'm pretty frustrated with myself and pretty disappointed because I really wanted to step in and be on this team and make a difference," Robertson told reporters. "But it just hasn't worked out for me."

Adam Morgan gave up two homers on Wednesday as the Phillies' bullpen continued to struggle. Starters Nick Pivetta and Zach Eflin have both been demoted from starters to the bullpen.

"The way I view the bullpen is we have to be creative and aggressive," Phillies manager Gabe Kapler said. "We have to learn as much as we can as quickly as we can."

The Phillies will hand the ball to Jake Arrieta, who's 8-8 with a 4.51 ERA while recently admitting that he's pitching with a bone spur in his right elbow.

In Arrieta's last outing on Friday, he tossed five innings and gave up five hits and five runs, four earned, in a 9-2 loss to the Braves.

Arrieta refused to use his injury as an excuse.

"I don't want to stop," Arrieta told reporters. "The movement, the action, the velocity, in the first four (innings) was about as good as it's been all year. And then it flips. It's frustrating because that's what I've been dealing with for the majority of the season. It's not a good feeling."

--Field Level Media