San Francisco Giants catcher Joey Bart, left, congratulates pitcher Camilo Doval after the team’s 7-4 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Wed May 17, 2023 at Oracle Park in San Francisco (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

Thursday the San Francisco Giants (20-23) got a well-deserved day off. They are coming off a sweep of the Phillies, their first of the season and they did it mostly without the long ball. Michael Conforto had a home run in game one of the series but that was it for San Francisco. The lack of home runs did not hurt the Giants in this series proving that they can win without the long ball. They’re offense is firing on all cylinders right now.

The Giants will need that offense as they head into a three-game series with the Miami Marlins (23-21) at Oracle Park. The Giants had 31 hits in their last series; their offense has really come alive. They last played the Marlins in April winning 5-2 in 11 innings in the third game of the series after losing the first two games.. Both Conforto and Mike Yastrzemski hit home runs in the 11th inning of that third game.

The Giants offense will be tested by Miami this weekend. Luis Arraez is the big hitter for the Marlins with a .378 batting average. Sandy Alcantara will take the mound for Miami with a 4.91 ERA and a 1-4 win/loss record. San Francisco will send Anthony DeSclafani who comes in with a 3.06 ERA and a 3-3 win/loss record to open the series on Friday night.

The success of any team comes at the hands of their pitching and along with the offense that the Giants have been showing lately, they have what they need right now to do well in this series.

These two teams are fairly evenly matched with the Giants scoring more runs and home runs. The Marlins come into this game on a three-game winning streak. Both of these teams come into the game with a lot of confidence so it may well come down to pitching. The Marlins edge the Giants team batting average .250 to .244. and hits 359 to 356.

The Giant will be without Joc Pederson who is listed out with a right hand contusion on a 10-day IL.

This game will get underway Friday night at Oracle with first pitch scheduled for 7:15 PM.