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Padres-Giants Preview

Sep 8, 2009 - 4:54 AM By BRETT HUSTON STATS Writer

San Diego (61-77) at San Francisco (75-62), 10:15 p.m. EDT

The San Francisco Giants will likely hand the ball to Tim Lincecum six more times in their final 24 games as they look to erase a slim deficit in the NL wild card race.

There may not be a better chance for a victory in the bunch than Tuesday night for him.

The majors' worst offense will be the opponent for the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner as the Giants continue a three-game set with the San Diego Padres at AT&T Park.

Lincecum (13-5, 2.34 ERA) leads the majors in innings (200 1-3) and strikeouts (233), and currently has the NL's second-best ERA and opponents' average (.207) as he bids for a second straight Cy Young Award.

Perhaps the strongest case against the right-hander may be his lack of recent victories. Lincecum has a 2.89 ERA over his last six starts and has held opponents to a .178 average, but is just 1-2.

He gave up two runs and four hits over seven innings Thursday at Philadelphia - striking out 11 - but was outdueled by Pedro Martinez in a 2-1 loss.

Despite receiving just five runs of support from the NL's second-worst offense - San Francisco (76-62) scores 3.99 runs per game - over his last three starts, Lincecum insists all he's concerned with when he pitches is his own performance.

"I can't go out there worrying like if I give up one run, now I have to put pressure on myself because we're not going to score after this," Lincecum told the Giants' official Web site. "You can't think like that. You have to think about pitching with a lead, whether it's two runs, one run or no runs."

The Giants' offense didn't have any problems in Monday's series opener against the Padres (61-78), using two Juan Uribe homers to lead the way to a 9-4 win that kept them two behind Colorado in the wild-card race.

Uribe has homered in seven of his last 19 games and hitting .323 in the span.

"He's a guy who can carry a ballclub," manager Bruce Bochy said of Uribe, who's hitting .440 with eight RBIs in eight games against San Diego. "You look at him and you may not think that. But he has power."

While San Francisco has one of baseball's least-productive offenses, it's the Padres who are the worst at 3.90 runs per game.

That, along with the Giants' NL-best 45-21 home record, would seem to spell trouble for San Diego against Lincecum, who's 9-1 with a 1.83 ERA at AT&T Park. Lincecum is 1-1 with a pedestrian 3.79 ERA in three starts versus San Diego this season, but 4-2 with a 1.67 ERA in 11 career starts.

Adrian Gonzalez, who leads San Diego with 36 homers, is hitting .212 (7 for 33) with 13 strikeouts against Lincecum, but Kevin Kouzmanoff - the Padres' leader with 83 RBIs - is hitting .355 (11 for 31).

Former Giant Kevin Correia (10-10, 4.29) gets the ball for San Diego in his second start back at AT&T Park after spending his first six seasons with San Francisco.

He's 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA in two starts against his former club this season.

Correia was outstanding Wednesday, allowing three hits over 7 2-3 innings in a 7-0 win over Washington. He hasn't missed a start in his first season as a Padre.

"It's a great, tremendous compliment to him," manager Bud Black said. "Starters who pass the test of time, that's what you want - a guy who is durable and stays healthy. It's a feather in the cap for him."

Uribe is 3 for 5 against Correia.