San Diego @ San Francisco preview
Oracle Park
Last Meeting ( Sep 13, 2011 ) San Diego 2, San Francisco 3
THE STORY: The San Francisco Giants' flagging postseason hopes will be in need of another boost on Wednesday afternoon when they conclude a three-game series against the visiting San Diego Padres. The Giants, who have won three straight, still trail the National League West-leading Arizona Diamondbacks by 8 1/2 games and the wild-card leading Atlanta Braves by 6 1/2 games despite a thrilling 3-2 victory in 12 innings on Tuesday night. Mark DeRosa's two-out walk-off single provided the difference.
TV: 3:45 p.m. ET, CSN-BA (San Francisco)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Padres RH Mat Latos (7-13, 3.72 ERA) vs. Giants RH Tim Lincecum (12-12, 2.68 ERA)
Latos has thrown seven quality starts in his last eight outings, striking out eight in each of his last two games — but he has just two wins to show for those efforts thanks to a slumping Padres lineup. He allowed just three hits in his most recent turn against the Giants, although Latos also walked four in the no-decision on Aug. 23. In eight career starts against San Francisco, Latos is 2-2 with an impressive 2.47 ERA.
Lincecum has put up numbers that would make him a Cy Young contender, but his record has suffered due to the fact that he gets lower run support (3.91 runs per nine innings) than any starter in the National League. After struggling in consecutive losses (10 runs in 11 innings), Lincecum settled down in his last start. He allowed one run on six hits in eight innings against Los Angeles on Friday. He is 8-4 with a 2.08 ERA in his lifetime against the Padres, including a win in his most recent outing when he yielded one earned run over eight innings on Aug. 24.
ABOUT THE PADRES (63-86): San Diego leads the majors by a wide margin in stolen bases (158), but it ranks toward the bottom of the pile in nearly every other offensive category, including runs scored (554, 28th) and batting average (.239, 28th). Nobody on the current roster has more than eight home runs or 43 runs batted in — Ryan Ludwick, who was traded to Pittsburgh in late July, still leads the Padres in both categories (11 HRs, 64 RBIs).
ABOUT THE GIANTS (78-70): San Francisco has kept its slim hopes for a repeat alive thanks almost entirely to its pitching staff, which leads the majors in opponent batting average and ranks among the top three in nearly every other category. The Giants have been lifeless on offense, however, ranking last in the majors with 503 runs scored. Of the seven National League starting pitchers with the lowest run support, four are in San Francisco's rotation.
FINAL PITCH: The Giants have won five of their last six against the Padres and hold an 11-6 lead in the season series.