rewrite this title Deadspin | White Sox ace Davis Martin gets to face struggling Giants

Two teams headed in opposite directions go head-to-head when the Chicago White Sox visit the San Francisco Giants for a three-game interleague series that opens Friday night.

The pairing is a rematch of the 1917 World Series, won 4-2 by the White Sox over the New York Giants.

The teams have squared off just 25 times in the 108 years since, including three times in Chicago last June when the White Sox also took that series 2-1.

Actually, the White Sox have had even greater success in San Francisco, going 8-3 in interleague play since 2008.

White Sox ace Davis Martin (6-1, 1.61), Friday’s scheduled starter, suffered a 4-1 loss in his only previous outing in San Francisco in 2024. He was pulled in the fifth inning, having allowed two earned runs.

He also lost to the New York Mets in 2024, but has since dominated interleague competition. He went 3-0 in starts last season against the Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies and San Diego Padres, and this year has run that winning streak to five with wins over the Chicago Cubs and Miami Marlins.

Overall this season, Martin has gone unbeaten in his last six starts while allowing no more than one run in any of them. He’s 4-0 with a 1.18 ERA over that stretch, with 44 strikeouts versus six walks in 38 innings.

Led by Martin and 17 home runs from first baseman Munetaka Murakami, the White Sox have been one of the early surprises in baseball this season. Eight wins in their last 11 games will send them onto the field in San Francisco with a winning record (25-24).

The 29-year-old Martin, who just two years ago was a winless pitcher (0-5) on a 121-loss team, insists both his and his team’s success is a group effort.

“From a pitching standpoint, you’re just like, ‘Pass the baton.’ Someone struggles, the next guys pick them up,” Martin said to the media recently. “It’s one of those things where it’s almost being expected that the next guy is going to do what needs to be done. If everything is going well, that guy just comes in and follows suit. It’s a constant challenge, a constant competition between each other in a healthy way.”

San Francisco starter Trevor McDonald (2-0, 2.37) has never seen the White Sox in his three-year career. His lone interleague appearance was a success as he beat the Athletics 6-4 on Saturday in West Sacramento, allowing just one run in 6 2/3 innings.

The Giants have won just once since. Their three-game sweep at Arizona dropped them a season-worst 10 games under .500.

Veteran shortstop Willy Adames took time after Wednesday’s 6-3 loss in Phoenix to put a positive spin on a comparison to 2025, when the Giants went 41-29 to open the season, only to need a four-game, season-ending winning streak just to reach .500.

“Last year (as late as June 13), we were in first place. We didn’t make it to the postseason,” Adames cautioned conclusion-drawing reporters and fans. “I don’t think the record at this time dictates what’s going to happen the whole year. We just have to pick it up the next series and continue to play the baseball that we’ve been playing.”

Before reaching Phoenix, the Giants had won five of eight. That included the first two of a four-game road set against the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers.

–Field Level Media