The San Francisco Giants defeated St. Louis in last year's NLCS en route to another World Series title, and they could use more wins over the Cardinals to boost their chances of making this postseason. Within striking distance in the NL West and wild card, the Giants are in the midst of a challenging slate that includes six matchups against the team with the best record in the majors. San Francisco took five games to dispatch St. Louis before claiming its third championship in five seasons but has some work to do to make this year's playoffs.