Los Angeles @ San Francisco preview

Last Meeting ( May 19, 2011 ) San Francisco 3, LA Dodgers 1

THE STORY: If the Los Angeles Dodgers are to get back in the National League West race, it has to start with the three-game series against the San Francisco Giants that begins on Monday. The Dodgers are 12 1/2 games behind the first-place Giants and need to start whittling away the deficit immediately or risk playing out the string over the final two months of the season. Los Angeles is 11 games below .500 entering the series. San Francisco has won seven of nine games and has a 3 1/2-game lead over second-place Arizona. The Giants have won five of nine games against the Dodgers this season.

TV: 10:15 p.m. ET, FSPT.

PITCHING MATCHUP: Dodgers RH Chad Billingsley (8-7, 3.87) vs. Giants RH Ryan Vogelsong (6-1, 2.17)

Billingsley is 1-1 with a 5.29 ERA in three starts against the Giants this season. Overall, he’s 7-4 with a 3.01 ERA in 23 career appearances (18 starts) against San Francisco. Billingsley was sensational in his final start before the All-Star break when he beat San Diego with eight shutout innings. He allowed just four hits. Miguel Tejada is batting .360 in 25 career at-bats against Billingsley.

Vogelsong has won three straight decisions and hasn’t lost since May 26. He has allowed two runs or less in 11 of his last 12 starts. Vogelsong’s next victory will give him a career high for victories. He took a no-decision against the New York Mets (two runs in seven innings) in his last outing. Vogelsong is making his second career start against Los Angeles. He has a 5.96 ERA in 10 career appearances against the Dodgers.

ABOUT THE GIANTS (55-41): San Francisco tied a franchise record with six steals in Sunday’s victory over San Diego. The Giants also stole six bases in a 1987 contest against Houston. San Francisco had just 53 steals entering the contest. Emmanuel Burriss and Nate Schierholtz each stole two bases on Sunday. Burriss scored the winning run in the 11th on Chris Stewart’s squeeze bunt. Schierholtz went 2-for-5 and is batting .362 in July. Andres Torres also had two hits and is 6-for-12 over the past three games. Torres is batting .317 this month. San Francisco relievers pitched five shutout innings but Brian Wilson struggled while picking up his 28th save. Wilson walked three batters in the 11th inning and was helped by a double play on a San Diego sacrifice bunt attempt.

ABOUT THE DODGERS (42-53): Los Angeles has lost back-to-back contests after putting together a five-game winning streak. The Dodgers have scored two or fewer runs in nine of the last 13 games. All-Star Andre Ethier is just 2-for-24 over the last seven games and his average has dropped 16 points to an even .300. Shortstop Rafael Furcal is just 3-for-35 in 10 games since coming off the disabled list. Furcal is batting just .168. James Loney had a hit Sunday and is 2-for-25 over the last eight games. Former Giant Juan Uribe is batting .292 in 24 at-bats against his former team this season. Uribe is batting just .206 overall and hasn’t homered since June 20.

FINAL PITCH: Dodgers manager Don Mattingly is trying to downplay the series as a must-sweep for his squad. “Obviously, we want to go in there and gain some ground but you can’t go in saying sweep,” Mattingly told reporters Sunday. “It would be really nice. If we win the series, we pick up a game. But to go in saying ‘sweep,’ that’s asking a lot.”