San Francisco @ San Diego preview

Last Meeting ( Aug 24, 2011 ) San Diego 1, San Francisco 2

THE STORY: San Francisco looks to keep its fading playoff hopes alive when it begins a three-game series at San Diego on Monday afternoon. The Giants fell eight games behind first-place Arizona in the National League West after dropping the final two games of a weekend set with the Diamondbacks. The Padres, currently in the NL West cellar, rolled past Colorado on Sunday for just their second win in the last 11 games.

TV: 4:05 p.m. ET, CSN-BA (San Francisco); Channel 4 (San Diego)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Giants LH Madison Bumgarner (9-12, 3.43 ERA) vs. Padres RH Tim Stauffer (8-11, 3.76 ERA)

Bumgarner finished August by winning his last two starts, including a dominating effort against the Chicago Cubs that saw him strike out a career-best 11 while allowing just two hits over eight shutout innings. His home and away numbers are all but identical, but Bumgarner's two worst performances in the second half have both come on the road. Bumgarner is still looking for his first career win against the Padres (7 GP, 0-2, 3.47 ERA), but he did pitch well in a July 14 no-decision at San Diego (6 IP, 7 H, 1 R).

Stauffer pitched reasonably well in an Aug. 24 loss at San Francisco (6 IP, 6 H, 2 R), but he was pounded six days later in a road loss to Los Angeles, walking seven batters in 1 2/3 innings while getting tagged for seven runs on one hit. He has allowed 23 runs over his last 24 2/3 innings, raising his ERA by eight-tenths of a run in the past month. In 10 career games against the Giants (eight starts), Stauffer is 5-4 with a solid 3.14 ERA.

ABOUT THE GIANTS (73-67): San Francisco kept itself in contention for much of the year thanks to its pitching staff, which leads the major leagues in quality starts (92) and opponent batting average (.230) and ranks second in ERA (3.15) and WHIP (1.22). The Giants' hopes of defending their world championship, however, are on life support due to an offense that ranks last in the major leagues with 469 runs scored and at the bottom of the National League in nearly every other category.

ABOUT THE PADRES (61-79): If there's an offensive category where the Giants don't rank last in the National League, the Padres are likely the team below them. San Diego is 28th in the majors in runs (525) and batting average (.239). One area where the Padres' offense hasn't struggled is on the basepaths — the team has stolen 154 bases, far and away the most in baseball. CF Cameron Maybin (33 steals), RF Will Venable (24) and SS Jason Bartlett all rank among top 12 base-stealers in the National League.

FINAL PITCH: The Giants have won four of their last five games in San Diego and six of the last eight against the Padres overall.