Series Preview: SF Giants vs. Red Sox - details and how to watch

It's a cross-country clash between the two most decorated MLB teams of the century. Will Marco Luciano's debut put the Giants on top?

The SF Giants will take on the surging Boston Red Sox this weekend at Oracle Park, the final (full) series before the August 1 trade deadline. With both teams setting their sights on playoff contention, this showdown will be the perfect chance to highlight each side's strengths and weaknesses against a strong opponent. For the Red Sox, Rafael Devers has paced the team with 25 home runs and an .862 OPS, while game 1 starter Kutter Crawford's 20 cutters in his last start produced 10 strikes, 6 outs, 3 balls, and just one base hit. 

The Giants, though, will counter with the star power of Logan Webb and wunderkind Marco Luciano, who made his MLB debut with the Giants on Wednesday. Luciano, the 21-year-old rookie from San Francisco de Macoris in the Dominican Republic will look to hold down a shortstop position that's suffered from Crawford's injuries and Casey Schmitt's offensive struggles. Luciano offers rare power - fewer than 20 at-bats per home run in his minor league career - that was on display from the very first pitch he saw. Combined with Webb, who ranks top-10 amongst qualified pitchers in ERA, BB/9, K/BB, and HR/9, the Giants have a fighting shot against the visiting Sox.

Marco Luciano receives a warm welcome by @SFGiants fans before his first MLB at-bat.

And then he gets another ovation following a 338-foot out. pic.twitter.com/4wb7g7Mi7a

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) July 27, 2023

And the Giants will need that kind of spark now that their initial wave of rookie power has all but run out. Even with an 8-run outburst against the A's on Wednesday, the Giants are still dead last in baseball for batting average (.204) and OPS (.628) in July. Patrick Bailey, Casey Schmitt, and Blake Wisely have all hit below .160 this past month. The power production that flashed early on this year has disappeared - three hitters sit tied for the team lead at 13 home runs, barely half that of Devers' total. That's one area where Luciano can very realistically ignite a spark.

Recent performance aside, the Giants do have one thing they can hold onto as they head into this weekend series with Boston. The Giants, sitting at a solid 56-47, are anecdotally much better against good teams than bad ones. Their .537 record against teams >.500 is still one of the best marks in the league, even if it's lower than their wins rate against under .500 squads. But notably, San Francisco has gone 1-5 against the rebuilding Nationals, dropped three games to the equally bad Tigers, and lost four out of seven to the soon-to-be-selling Mets. Meanwhile, they've recorded series wins against the Dodgers, Brewers (twice), and Astros, among others. If the Giants can persevere through this tough stretch (or simply continue playing to the competition), they might not just survive this weekend; they'll surprise. 

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Series Details

Who: SF Giants vs. Boston Red Sox
Where: Oracle Park, San Francisco, California
When: July 28-30, Friday (7:15 PM), Saturday (4:15 PM), and Sunday (1:05 PM). All times Pacific.

Giants current streak: W2, 4-6 in last 10. 56-47 overall, 2nd place in NL West (3.0 GB), +0.5 GB Wild Card

Red Sox current streak: W4, 6-4 in last 10. 55-47 overall, 4th place in AL East

Projected starters

Friday: Logan Webb (8-8, 3.48 ERA) vs. Kutter Crawford (4-5, 4.04 ERA)

Saturday: TBD vs. James Paxton* (6-2, 3.46 ERA)

Sunday: TBD vs. TBD

*Indicates LHP

**Indicates opener

How to watch, listen

• SF Giants broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area, KNBR 680/1510 AM
• Opposing broadcast: NESN, 890 and 1490 AM/WEEI 93.7 FM
• National broadcasts: none
• Live stream: fuboTV (start your free trial)