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Padres, Giants collide by the Bay

Jul 4, 2011 - 2:51 PM (Sports Network) - June may not have been the best of months for Giants All- Star Tim Lincecum, but the Padres know that the flamethrower can turn it back on at a moments notice.

Lincecum tries to pitch San Francisco to a victory this evening in the opener of a four-game set with San Diego at AT&T Park.

The 27-year-old Lincecum won just one of his six starts last month and pitched to a 4.84 earned run average after yielding 19 earned runs in 35 1/3 innings. His low point was a four-inning debacle versus the Reds on June 11 in which he gave up seven runs over just four innings of a loss.

However, Lincecum has yielded just three earned runs and struck out 28 in three starts since. The two-time National League Cy Young Award winner is coming off a no-decision versus the Cubs on Wednesday despite allowing only a run over seven innings with nine strikeouts.

The righty is 6-6 with a 3.04 ERA in 17 starts this season while adding 122 strikeouts over 112 1/3 innings. A season-high 13 of those came in an April 6 victory over the Padres in which he pitched seven innings of one-run ball to improve to 6-3 with a 2.03 ERA lifetime versus the club.

The Giants turn to their ace today after dropping a 6-3 decision to the Tigers on Sunday. San Francisco committed three errors in the game and lost for just the third time in 12 games. The club does still lead Arizona by three games for first place in the National League West.

"We wish we weren't in those situations where those errors meant so much," said Giants catcher Chris Stewart. "It's just one of those things where the defense didn't come through."

Pablo Sandoval extended his hitting streak to a career-best 14 games in the loss. He is a lifetime .288 batter versus the Padres and is 4-for-14 in his career off San Diego starter Clayton Richard, who tries for a third straight winning start today.

The left-hander's back-to-back wins come on the heels of a five-decision losing streak. He ended his personal slide on June 22 in Boston, giving up a run over five innings before beating the Royals on Tuesday. Richard was charged with two runs on five hits over seven strong innings.

Richard improved to 4-9 with a 4.09 ERA in 17 starts, with three of those wins coming on the road despite a 5.85 ERA in nine starts.

The 27-year-old will face the Giants for the first time this season and is 4-2 with a 3.46 ERA in seven career starts against them.

The Padres may be ill-prepared to face an ace like Lincecum after plating just two runs over their weekend set with the Mariners. Their pitching was good enough to win a 1-0 decision on Saturday, but the Friars then lost a 3-1 test in Sunday's rubber match of a three-game series.

San Diego lost five of six to Seattle this season, scoring just three earned runs in that time.

Mat Latos finished strong on Sunday, but took the loss after yielding three runs over six innings as the Padres fell for the third time in 11 games.

"I thought once he got in the game he really got going," said Padres catcher Nick Hundley of Latos. "Seemed like we were behind a lot of counts early in the game, but once he started going, it was lights out the last three innings."

Will Venable had an RBI double in the third inning for the Padres, who split a two-game set at home versus the Giants on April 5-6 and have won 13 of their past 20 against them.

San Diego has also captured nine of its last 11 at San Francisco.