Red Sox Weekend Warmup: Can Boston Flip Switch Against NL?

The Red Sox rose to the occasion and swept the Major League Baseball-best Atlanta Braves at Fenway Park, capping off the two-game series in thrilling fashion with a come-from-behind win Wednesday night.

So... can that momentum continue? It'd come especially handy in the final season-deciding months with Boston's playoff hopes yet to be secured.

However, there's a challenge in place with Boston's latest series in San Francisco versus the Giants, which starts Friday night at Oracle Park. The Red Sox will face a National League team, which regardless of opposing record, hasn't gone well. Boston is 17-20 this season when facing NL squads, having been swept twice. That made coming back against Atlanta that much more impressive after trailing 3-0 to cap off their latest homestand.

Out on the West Coast, the Red Sox are awaited by a San Francisco team that isn't a pushover by any means. The Giants trail the Dodgers by just three games for the NL West lead, but have struggled lately, losing six of their last eight.

Boston's offense has flipped the switch at the plate, scoring 26 runs in total during its four-game winning streak. The Red Sox lineup has also batted .336, hit 10 home runs, three doubles and stole eight bases, improving to an MLB-best 14-5 record in the month of July.

That leaves plenty of reason for optimism in the air in Boston with 60 games remaining before the end of the regular season, and 1 1/2 games out of a wild-card spot.

Red Sox odds (July 28)*
To win World Series: +6000
To win American League: +2500
To win AL East: +3800
To make playoffs: +235

Boston has gradually improved its odds, most notably to win the AL East. Having gone 6-4 since the All-Star break, which included some tough losses to sub-.500 teams (Cubs, Athletics and Mets), the Red Sox are still well within the hunt, surpassing the Yankees by the end of the week and trailing the first-place Orioles by just seven games.

Winning the division isn't a given -- for anyone in the AL East -- but the finish line of securing an October spot is in Boston's reach with plenty of time, including the trade deadline, still left.

*Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook

Probable pitchers
-- Friday, July 28 (10:15 p.m. ET at Giants): Kutter Crawford, RHP (4-5, 4.04 ERA) vs. Logan Webb, RHP (8-8, 3.48 ERA)

-- Saturday, July 29 (7:15 p.m. ET at Giants): James Paxton, LHP (6-2, 3.46 ERA) vs. TBD

-- Sunday, July 30 (4:05 p.m. ET at Giants): TBD vs. TBD

Storylines to watch
1. How will Boston's remaining contests against NL impact playoff chances?
Last season, Boston's primary issue was clear: winning games against the American League East. That created an ever-growing anchor that limited the Red Sox, dooming them to a bottom-of-the-barrel finish in the division.

Now, it's interleague play.

With nine games left to play against NL teams (Giants, Nationals, Dodgers), the Red Sox need to limit the damage in order to keep their postseason window from closing. Taking two-of-two from a World Series-favorite Atlanta team spoke volumes and provided an avenue for confidence within Boston's clubhouse. They're capable of hanging with the league's best, but that alone isn't enough.

A similar result in San Francisco might be the foundation needed to catapult Boston before the season gets dicey.

2. Triston Casas red-hot at the plate
Casas has provided a huge helping hand in turning the offensive momentum around, which simultaneously has helped turn his season around in the process.

After hitting just .133 in March and April while striking out 27 times, Casas has put the early dog days of 2023 behind him, emerging recently into a valuable bat in the lineup.

The 23-year-old is in the midst of a break-out month in July, batting .365 with six home runs -- including two off Max Scherzer to set an MLB record -- and 11 RBIs. He's gone 19-for-52 with base hits in 12 of his last 13 games -- a stretch in which Casas is hitting .450 for the Red Sox.

Just what Boston needed, and right at the perfect time.

3. Boston's trade deadline stance
Still unknown, the Red Sox are just days away from the Aug. 1 trade deadline, begging the question: will Boston buy?

So far, they've traded for a few new arms, acquiring pitchers Mauricio Llovera, Nick Robertson and Justin Hagenman from the Giants and Dodgers, respectively. That provides some farm system depth with the most notable asset surrendered being Kiké Hernández, who reunited with Los Angeles.

Boston entered the Midsummer Classic break winners of five in a row, and while they haven't replicated that red-hot stretch, its playoff chances haven't decreased. That makes the upcoming approach from the Red Sox come deadline time, that much more interesting.