ATLANTA -- As the Giants attempt to improve their postseason bid, they will need to gain more consistency from the middle of their rotation.

Alex Wood has proven capable of being a valuable starter, but the lefty struggled mightily while recording just three outs in a 7-6 loss to the Braves on Thursday afternoon.

While losing three of four games to the Braves, the Giants showed they have a top-heavy rotation. Monday's starter Logan Webb and Wednesday's starter Carlos Rodón both looked like NL Cy Young candidates. But Wood and Tuesday's starter Anthony DeSclafani showed the significant drop-off that exists within this rotation.

Webb and Rodón combined to toss 14 innings, allowing just two runs on nine hits and one walk while striking out 17 batters. Following Rodón's exceptional performance on Wednesday, the Giants starters entered Thursday with a 2.62 ERA (30 earned runs in 103 innings) this month, which ranked second-best in the Majors behind Boston (2.36).

The starters for the other two games of the four-game series had the opposite fortune. DeSclafani, who pitched in Tuesday's 12-10 win after returning from the 60-day injured list, and Wood were tagged by the Braves for 11 total runs over four combined innings of work.

"It happens to all of us. It's one of those things where you just got to flush it and move on to the next one," Rondón said. "There have been times this season where we've all been pretty bad, and we've all been pretty good. It's just part of the game.

"I still have confidence in Woody and all our other guys. They put this rotation together for a reason. I think we have guys that are really good arms, and it's just at the moment, you run into some tough teams and you run into some tough outings."

Wood's one inning, where he allowed six runs on four hits, two walks and two hit-by-pitches, was the shortest outing of his career since throwing two pitches against the Rockies on July 9, 2015, and leaving the game due to injury.

"It just sucked, to be honest," Wood said. "Hit two guys, walked two guys – against a lineup like that, they usually make you pay. They've been a hot team; you can't give away free passes like that and expect to have a good start. Just really frustrating."

While the pitching staff is still working through some kinks, the Giants' offense came to life in the series against the defending World Series champions, keeping each game within two runs. San Francisco scored 21 runs over four games, with six in the finale Thursday.

"I personally don't take a lot of satisfaction from being close in games. I like having a chance to win them, but I'm not gonna walk away feeling like 'Oh, we were really close to winning that series,'" manager Gabe Kapler said. “It just doesn't feel right to me.

"What I will say is, whether it's the Dodgers or the Atlanta Braves – the world champs – or the team in our division that is playing really well or the San Diego Padres, I feel like we can play good baseball with any of them. I feel like we are a good baseball team that hasn't quite come together yet."

Although the runs either came or didn’t for the Giants, the constant was that they were producing hits. The squad had a minimum of six and reached double-digits twice for a total of 41 hits throughout their time in Atlanta.

"I feel like we had some good at-bats today and kept fighting back all the way through the end of the game," Kapler said. "I think that's a moment to be proud of the club for not laying down when they've got a lot of momentum working [against] their favor. We knew we were gonna have to really stretch the bullpen in a short start from Alex Wood and never [let it get] out of hand.”