Pittsburgh Pirates (21-17, third in the NL Central) vs. San Francisco Giants (14-23, fifth in the NL West)

San Francisco; Friday, 10:15 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Pirates: Carmen Mlodzinski (2-2, 4.76 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 40 strikeouts); Giants: Robbie Ray (2-4, 2.95 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 40 strikeouts)

BOTTOM LINE: The San Francisco Giants begin a three-game series at home against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday.

San Francisco has a 14-23 record overall and an 8-11 record at home. Giants hitters are batting a collective .238, which ranks 10th in the NL.

Pittsburgh has a 10-8 record on the road and a 21-17 record overall. The Pirates have the eighth-ranked team slugging percentage in the NL at .387.

The matchup Friday is the first meeting this season between the two clubs.

TOP PERFORMERS: Casey Schmitt leads the Giants with six home runs while slugging .539. Rafael Devers is 8 for 32 with a home run and six RBI over the past 10 games.

Brandon Lowe has eight doubles and 10 home runs for the Pirates. Nick Gonzales is 12 for 37 with two doubles over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Giants: 2-8, .206 batting average, 4.27 ERA, outscored by 22 runs

Pirates: 5-5, .262 batting average, 4.75 ERA, outscored opponents by one run

INJURIES: Giants: Sam Hentges: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Erik Miller: 15-Day IL (back), Jared Oliva: 60-Day IL (wrist), Harrison Bader: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Daniel Susac: 10-Day IL (elbow), Jose Butto: 60-Day IL (arm), Reiver Sanmartin: 60-Day IL (hip), Hayden Birdsong: 60-Day IL (forearm), Jason Foley: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Randy Rodriguez: 60-Day IL (elbow), Rowan Wick: 60-Day IL (elbow)

Pirates: Chris Devenski: 15-Day IL (illness), Jake Mangum: day-to-day (hamstring), Jared Jones: 60-Day IL (elbow)

------

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.