Series Preview: SF Giants @ Nationals, August 2023
The SF Giants continue their long road trip with a weekend trip to the Washington, D.C., where they'll take on a Nationals team that's become buried in a competitive NL East. As the summer wears on, series like these will become more and more important for San Francisco, which is now tied with Arizona for second place in the NL West. While the Dodgers only have two games of distance up in first, they've been on a hard charge that the Giants must (and recently, have) matched. A convincing series win here is necessary just to keep up.
The good news is that there should be ample pitching present to jump on this opportunity. Despite a pair of losses on the back end of the Reds series, the Giants managed to use only Ross Stripling, Alex Cobb, Ryan Walker, Jakob Junis, and Mauricio Llovera to cover those games. That gives Camilo Doval (who saved two games on Tuesday) and the Rogers brothers plenty of rest, with Tristan Beck available for bulk-inning coverage. Plus, the Giants will cover Saturday with Logan Webb, who has averaged nearly eight innings per start in July, with a dazzling 1.59 ERA in that span.
This series should also provide an opportunity for the Giants to get right at the plate, given the Nationals' struggles - all but four of their pitchers have an ERA north of 4.00 in the last 30 days, with eleven(!!) recording an ERA above 5.00. We'll see how well Washington adapts to San Francisco, which is hitting an abysmal .211 as a team in July with a .642 OPS.
Both marks rank next-to-last in baseball, just ahead of a team they recently swept, the Pittsburgh Pirates. Wilmer Flores has done his best to pull his weight, hitting .417 in July with four home runs. All four of those dingers came against the Reds this week, and if he can stay hot, he might guarantee the Giants at least one win this weekend all by himself. He'll need at least some help, though, especially with Brandon Crawford on the Injured List. We'll see which of the Giants' bats can step up and distinguish themselves ahead of the looming Trade Deadline.
Series Details
Who: SF Giants at Washington Nationals
Where: Nationals Park, Washington, D.C.
When: July 21-23, Friday (4:05 PM), Saturday (4:05 PM), Sunday (10:35 AM). All times Pacific.
Giants' current streak: L2, 7-3 in last 10. 54-43 overall, t-2nd place in NL West (2.0 GB)
Nationals' current streak: L2, 4-6 in last 10. 38-58 overall, 5th place in NL East
Projected starters
Friday: Alex Wood* (4-3, 4.53 ERA) vs. Jake Irvin (2-5, 4.96 ERA)
Saturday: Logan Webb (8-7, 3.11 ERA) vs. Josiah Gray (6-8, 3.59 ERA)
Sunday: TBD vs. MacKenzie Gore* (5-7, 4.59 ERA)
*Indicates LHP
**Indicates opener
How to watch, listen
- SF Giants broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area, KNBR 680/1510 AM
- Opposing broadcast: MASN 2, WJFK 106.7 The Fan
- National broadcasts: none
