San Francisco @ San Diego preview

Last Meeting ( Jun 25, 2014 ) San Diego 0, San Francisco 4

The San Francisco Giants are coming off a disastrous homestand and seem determined to fall off the pace in the National League West. The San Diego Padres will try to take advantage of the Giants’ slide when they host the opener of a three-game series on Friday. San Francisco went 2-8 on its homestand and has dropped 17 of its last 22 contests to squander a lead in the division that reached 9 1/2 games early in June.

The Padres are winners of four in a row but have only managed to score more than three runs in one of their last seven contests. The lowest scoring team in the majors, San Diego pounded out 13 runs in taking two of three from the Giants in San Francisco on June 23-25. The Padres’ pitching keeps them competitive, and the staff has yielded an average of 1.6 runs in the last nine games – a stretch in which the team has posted a 6-3 mark.

TV: 6:40 p.m. ET, CSN Bay Area (San Francisco), FSN San Diego

PITCHING MATCHUP: Giants RH Matt Cain (1-6, 4.38 ERA) vs. Padres LH Eric Stults (2-11, 5.36)

Cain is searching for his first win since May 15 but ended a string of three straight rough outings by holding Cincinnati scoreless over seven innings on Saturday. The 29-year-old has a hard time getting run support and received a total of one run from his offense in two starts against San Diego this season. Cain was knocked around for six runs on seven hits in 7 1/3 innings by the Padres in a 6-0 loss on June 23.

Stults, like most San Diego pitchers, also does not receive a ton of run support - and his offense has managed a total of three runs in his last three outings. The veteran held Arizona to three runs – two earned – on three hits in 5 1/3 innings on Saturday but suffered the loss in a 3-1 final. Stults got just enough support to earn a win over the Giants at home on April 19, yielding one run in six innings.

WALK-OFFS

1. Giants 1B Brandon Belt (thumb) is expected to be activated from the disabled list prior to the game on Friday.

2. San Diego OF Seth Smith is 4-for-7 in the last two games after going five straight contests without a hit.

3. San Francisco 2B Marco Scutaro (lower back) is on a rehab assignment in the Arizona league and is expected to be promoted to Triple-A Fresno over the weekend.

PREDICTION: Giants 3, Padres 2