San Diego @ San Francisco preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 11, 2015 ) San Diego 1, San Francisco 9

A poorly-timed losing streak that ended last week took the San Francisco Giants from being on the verge of threatening the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West to the brink of not being able to defend their World Series crown. Facing a daunting 7 ½-game deficit in the division and a 9 ½-game hole in the wild-card race with only 21 contests left, the Giants will look to trim both margins on Saturday as they continue a three-game set with the visiting San Diego Padres.

San Francisco stood 2 ½ games behind the Dodgers in the NL West and 4 ½ in back of the Chicago Cubs after a victory over St. Louis on Aug. 28, but seven straight losses – including three in a row in Los Angeles – may be too much for it to overcome. The Giants have won four of their last six, however, and gained ground on the Dodgers for the first time since Aug. 21 with Friday’s 9-1 rout of the Padres. San Diego was hoping to recover from a 4-7 homestand but instead fell to San Francisco for the fifth time in the division rivals' last six meetings. As a result, the Padres (67-75) likely are headed to their fifth consecutive losing season after moving within one game of .500 as recently as Aug. 22.
TV: 9:05 p.m. ET, MLBN, FSN San Diego, NBC Bay Area (San Francisco)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Padres RH Ian Kennedy (8-13, 3.99 ERA) vs. Giants LH Madison Bumgarner (17-7, 3.05)
After opening the second half of the season by going 4-2 with a 2.27 ERA, Kennedy is winless in his last three turns after enduring his worst post-break outing in Monday’s loss to Colorado. The 30-year-old USC alum, who was tagged for six runs (four earned) over five innings, has a 2.74 ERA in his last 10 trips to the mound overall and recorded at least seven strikeouts seven times over that span. Kennedy has a 2-1 record and 1.69 ERA in four turns versus the Giants this season and is 11-5 with a 2.41 mark in 24 career starts against them.
Bumgarner was not his usual dominant self on Sunday at Colorado, but he managed to improve to 8-2 with a 2.58 ERA since the All-Star break despite yielding four runs and nine hits in six frames. The 2014 World Series MVP has been incredible at home, however, winning each of his last six outings while allowing a total of seven runs across 44 1/3 innings over that span. Bumgarner, who can tie his career-best win total from last year with a victory on Saturday, has split a pair of starts against San Diego this season.

WALK-OFFS
1. San Francisco, which has won 17 of its last 22 home contests, plays 15 of its remaining 21 games at AT&T Park.
2. Padres RF Matt Kemp singled in the opener to extend his hitting streak to nine games and on-base streak to a career-high 31 contests.
3. Giants OF Gregor Blanco was diagnosed with a concussion on Friday and is in danger of missing the rest of the season.

PREDICTION: Giants 3, Padres 1