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Giants-Dodgers Preview

Sep 4, 2010 - 5:44 AM By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN STATS Senior Writer

San Francisco (74-60) at Los Angeles (68-66), 10:10 p.m. EDT

Matt Cain finally owns a win over the Los Angeles Dodgers, but getting one at Dodger Stadium may be more difficult given the way the San Francisco Giants have supported him there.

He'll try to help the Giants end a three-game road slide and even this three-game series Saturday night.

Cain (10-10, 3.11 ERA) improved to 1-8 with a 3.94 ERA in 15 starts against the Dodgers by allowing four hits over 7 2-3 innings in a 2-0 home victory Aug. 1. He was the first San Francisco pitcher to lose his first eight decisions to Los Angeles (69-66).

"I know he's glad to put this behind him and finally get a win against them," manager Bruce Bochy said. "He's thrown some good games and we've had trouble scoring runs for him."

Bochy is especially correct about Cain's outings at Dodger Stadium, where he's 0-2 with a 3.31 ERA in six starts. The right-hander has a 1.09 ERA over his last four at Chavez Ravine, but the Giants have given him a total of one run of support.

Right fielder Andre Ethier is 18 for 35 in his career against Cain while James Loney is 11 for 31.

The Giants (74-61) have won seven of Cain's last nine starts, but lost his last two on the road. He gave up three runs over 6 1-3 innings and did not get a decision in a 9-7 win Sunday over Arizona.

San Francisco finished with its lowest hit total since July 29 as they managed two in Friday's 4-2 loss. The last one was Buster Posey's tying two-run single in the fourth inning.

The Giants remained three games behind NL West leader San Diego, which has lost eight straight. That's the same margin they trail wild-card leader Philadelphia.

Los Angeles is eight games behind the Padres, who host the Dodgers in a three-game set beginning Monday.

Rod Barajas had a two-run homer Friday to continue his surge. Barajas has four homers and eight RBIs in eight games since joining Los Angeles in a trade from the New York Mets on Aug. 22.

"I've been smiling since Day One," he said. "Being able to be productive has been great."

The Giants have received little in recent games from No. 3 and 4 hitters Aubrey Huff and Pat Burrell. Huff is 2 for 24 in his last seven games while Burrell is 3 for 20 in his previous seven.

Ted Lilly (8-9, 3.59) will try to bounce back from his first loss with the Dodgers. The left-hander went 5-0 with a 1.83 ERA in his first five starts with Los Angeles before giving up seven runs over four innings in a 10-5 loss at Colorado on Sunday.

"That's really the first clunker that Teddy's had," manager Joe Torre said. "He was up with a lot of stuff."

Lilly, 3-0 with a 1.64 ERA in three home starts at Dodger Stadium this year, is 3-1 with a 5.12 ERA in five career outings against the Giants.