Two teams with ties dating back more than 100 years meet for the first time in four years when the Boston Red Sox visit the San Francisco Giants for a three-game interleague series beginning Friday night.
The opener pits a pair of right-handers — Boston’s Kutter Crawford (4-5, 4.04 ERA) and San Francisco’s Logan Webb (8-8, 3.48) — who had been in fine form before a hiccup in their latest outings.
The Giants won two of three the last time the clubs went head-to-head in September 2019 in Boston, a series that began with a 15-inning affair won by the visitors, 7-6. Webb, then a rookie, started that game, which featured a total of 24 pitchers.
That was 20 more pitchers than appeared when the Red Sox and Giants battled to a 6-6, 11-inning tie in Game 2 of the 1912 World Series. This season marks the 111th anniversary of a 4-3-1 Boston series win over a Giants team that then represented New York.
The century-old foes renew their rivalry with nearly identical records and predicaments in their respective leagues.
The Red Sox (55-47) sit in fourth place in the American League East, 1 1/2 games out of a wild-card spot. The Giants (56-47) reside second in the National League West, which lands them atop the NL wild-card standings.
Boston begins a six-game western swing on a four-game winning streak, having dumped the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves twice apiece in the past six days. Red Sox pitching has allowed just five runs in the past three games.
“I’ve got to give credit to those guys in that clubhouse,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said about a rise in the standings that has included passing the New York Yankees. “They’re grinding. They’re playing hard. They’re doing everything possible to make it interesting.”
Crawford, 27, saw a three-game unbeaten streak end in a 5-4 home loss to the Mets on July 21, when he gave up four runs in four innings. He had pitched six shutout innings, allowing one hit and striking out nine, in his previous outing, against the Cubs in Chicago on July 16.
The third-year pitcher has never faced the Giants, who are coming off a two-game sweep of the Oakland Athletics after a six-game losing streak.
Crawford can expect to see one of the Giants’ top prospects — infielder Marco Luciano — in the lineup after the 21-year-old was promoted for the first time Wednesday.
Starting at shortstop, Luciano went 0-for-2 in his debut against the Athletics during an 8-3 win but vowed afterward to take the same excited approach to his next appearance.
“When I enjoy myself, good things happen,” Luciano said, “so that’s basically what I’m going to do. I don’t feel any pressure. I’m just going to have fun out there.”
Webb has a similar recent tale as Crawford. He is coming off one of the worst outings of his career, hammered for six runs in just 1 1/3 innings in a 10-1 road loss to the Washington Nationals on Saturday. He had been unbeaten in his previous three July starts, allowing four runs in 22 2/3 innings (1.59 ERA).
Webb, 26, allowed three runs in five-plus innings during the aforementioned contest at Boston in his sixth career start in 2019. He did not get a decision in that game, the only time he has faced the Red Sox.