SF Giants Series Preview: can the Pirates steal a win against the surging G-Men?

The SF Giants are set to welcome the Pirates into McCovey Cove. With the Bucs sinking in the standings,can the Giants finish them off with an offensive barrage?

A Tale of Two Seasons

It was the beginning of the season, it was the winding aftermath to the beginning of the season. Mark Twain said that, I believe, after watching his team flutter about in the standings like a flagpole wracked by violent winds.

The Giants and Pirates have ridden these winds along the same path, but in opposite directions. While San Francisco floundered in April, the Pirates were one of the league's surprise success stories by the end of the month. After a 16-1 drubbing of the admittedly dreadful Nationals, Pittsburgh was on fire. At 20-8, they had the best record in the NL, trailing only the ridiculously hot Rays atop the baseball world. They seemed poised to coast along a hot start to a clear shot at a division title in the weak NL Central.

A month later, those same Pirates are now dead even at 26-26. They've been outscored by nearly 50 runs in that span, and whatever momentum they'd accumulated seems to have dried up as they've lost the division lead to the Brewers, even as the Giants  helped them out by taking a series in Milwaukee last week. They'll arrive into San Francisco fighting just to stay relevant in a crowded Wild Card scene.

The Giants, meanwhile, have surged in the past month, climbing from a season-worst 6-13 to a much-improved 27-26. A large part of their success has been due to an infusion of rookie talent in Casey Schmitt and Patrick Bailey, but the emergence of veteran free agent acquisitions has been a steady undercurrent in their rise. Taylor Rogers, Sean Manaea, and Mitch Haniger have all shown signs of life, but the star of the show has been Michael Conforto.

Conforto, who signed with San Francisco after missing a year due to injury rehabilitation, showed heavy signs of rust in April. But he's been raking in May. 7 home runs on the month. 15 RBI in his last 15 games. He's hitting .423 with a slugging percentage that's higher than most hitter's OPS in the past 7 days. And with Mitch Haniger batting behind him and rounding into form with a pair of home runs this weekend, San Francisco's window for contention might be just starting to open.

That's the story, morning glory, as the Giants head into a three-game set against Pittsburgh to start the week. Keep an eye out for Monday's unusual start time - you won't want to miss what should turn out to be an explosive set of games. We've got you covered with all the details below, to help you catch every pitch.

Series details:

Who: SF Giants vs. Pittsburgh Pirates
Where: Oracle Park, San Francisco, CA
When: May 29-31, Monday (2:05 PM), Tuesday (6:45 PM), and Wednesday (12:45 PM). All times Pacific.

Giants' current streak: L1, 7-3 in last 10, 27-26 overall

Pirates' current streak: L2, 4-6 in last 10, 26-26 overall

Projected starters:

Monday: Anthony DeSclafani (3-4, 3.43 ERA) vs. Rich Hill* (4-4, 4.27 ERA)

Tuesday: TBD vs. Johan Oviedo (3-4, 4.70 ERA)

Wednesday: Alex Wood* (1-0, 3.54 ERA) vs. Mitch Keller (6-1, 3.01 ERA)

*Indicates LHP

How to watch, listen:

• SF Giants broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area, KNBR 680/1510 AM
• Pirates broadcast: ATT SportsNet-PIT, 100.1 FM/1020 AM
• National broadcasts: MLB Network (Tuesday, out-of-network only)