Series Preview: SF Giants vs. D-backs - details and how to watch

Are the SF Giants now officially contenders? It sure didn't seem like it two weeks ago, when the Giants were mired in a seemingly fruitless attempt to breach .500. But now, after seeing a 10-game win streak come to an end after a successful series against the Padres, the Giants are now firmly in the drivers seat.

Their opponents this weekend? None other than the team currently pacing the NL West, the Arizona Diamondbacks. Their youth movement last year hinted at an imminent resurgence, but few saw the D-backs as the clear frontrunners in the division this deep into the season. Their big star has been rookie Corbin Carroll, a blazing-fast left fielder who leads Arizona in games played, hits, runs, home runs, stolen bases, batting average, and OPS.

The Giants, though, have put the success of their team on the shoulders of their own young players. Unlike Carroll, who got a cup of coffee last September with Arizona, these rookies have burst onto the scene and hit the ground running. Patrick Bailey is already one of the game's premier two-way catchers, Luis Matos has two strikeouts in his professional career, and pitchers like Ryan Walker and Tristan Beck have been a critical part of baseball's best bullpen over the last month or so.

That's not to discount the contributions of the veteran core. While Arizona might have a bit more star power with names like Ketel Marte and Lourdes Gurriel, San Francisco has been quietly benefitting from tremendous performances up and down the lineup. Brandon Crawford is absolutely clutch with RISP right now, LaMonte Wade Jr. and his top-3 OBP in the league should be able to return against Arizona, and J.D. Davis is putting up better numbers than Nolan Arenado, Manny Machado, and Austin Riley.

As such, the Giants should feel good going into this series, even against a team as tough as Arizona. There's just one weird thing I haven't been able to square away with this team.

The pacing of Giants' hitting lately has been... odd. I've noted in previous series previews that the Giants have struggled to hit starters, and then teed off against any and all resistance in the bullpen. But this has been a little difficult to quantify, especially since getting shut out for 4+ innings and then dropping a 5-spot on a guy qualifies as an objectively successful day.

I perused the box scores over the course of the winning streak (and yesterday's loss to San Diego), and something jumped out to me - all those 0's at the beginning of each game. The Giants have gone 10-1 over their last 11 games, and yet, on average, they haven't scored until the fifth inning. San Francisco has reliably been putting games away, whether from breathtaking comebacks or run-of-the-mill routs, despite generally not scoring at all until the second half of the game.

That's incredible, and probably not sustainable. On one hand, if the Giants start having a bit more success against starters, it's going to make their games much, much easier to win, especially with the bullpen being as outstanding as it's been. On the other hand, if they don't, they're probably not going to be able to string together another five come-from-behind wins in the next two weeks. On a conceptual third hand, they've been scoring plenty regardless, so maybe it's just a part of their offensive process?

Either way, San Francisco will start this series against Zach Davies, who has posted an ERA of 7.11 in seven largely troubled outings this year. If the Giants can't find a way to punish whatever issues he's going through, this could end up being a long series, especially since they'll end it behind Anthony DeSclafani, who's had an extremely rough month of his own. If they can, though, the G-Men are right back in the driver's seat. They might not be able to mathematically leapfrog the Diamondbacks in the standings the way they did to LA, but at the very least, the Giants can use this series to make Arizona sweat.

Series Details

Who: SF Giants vs. Arizona Diamondbacks
Where: Oracle Park, San Francisco, California
When: June 23-25, Friday (7:15 PM), Saturday (1:05 PM), Sunday (1:05 PM). All times Pacific.

Giants' current streak: L1, 9-1 in last 10. 42-33 overall, 2nd place in NL West (3.5 GB)

Diamondbacks' current streak: W2, 5-5 in last 10. 46-30 overall, 1st place in NL West

Projected starters

Friday: Logan Webb (6-6, 3.11 ERA) vs. Zach Davies (1-3, 7.11 ERA)

Saturday: TBD vs. Merrill Kelly (9-3, 2.90 ERA)

Sunday: Anthony DeSclafani (4-6, 4.38 ERA) vs. Ryne Nelson (3-4, 5.31 ERA)

*Indicates LHP

**Indicates opener

How to watch, listen

SF Giants broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area, KNBR 680/1510 AM
Dodgers broadcast: SportsNet LA, AM 570/KTNQ 1020
National broadcasts: MLB Network (Sunday, out-of-market only)