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Dodgers hope to maintain two streaks vs. Giants

Jul 28, 2008 - 2:37 PM San Francisco (43-61) at LA Dodgers (52-52) 10:10 pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- The Los Angeles Dodgers have pitched back-to-back shutouts. With the way the San Francisco Giants have been scoring runs lately, Los Angeles might make it three straight scoreless games.

The Dodgers eye their fourth straight win on Monday when they host the first of three games against the rival Giants.

Los Angeles yielded just two runs in sweeping Washington, the lowest-scoring team in the majors, in three games over the weekend. In shutting out the Nationals over the final two games, the Dodgers extended their consecutive-innings scoreless streak to 19 1/3 frames.

That run could continue against a Giants club that sports the fourth-lowest scoring offense in the majors, tallying a mere eight runs over the last four games. San Francisco managed a total of just seven runs over the weekend when it was swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks.

On Monday, the Dodgers give the ball to Hiroki Kuroda (5-7, 3.98 ERA), who has struggled mightily since the All-Star break. The Japanese import, who went 2-0 and allowed three runs combined over his final three outings just before the "Midsummer Classic, is 0-1 with a 11.25 ERA in his two starts since.

The righthander surrendered five runs and nine hits over six innings in Wednesday's 5-3 loss at Colorado.

Kuroda's struggles pale in comparison to Giants starter Kevin Correia (1-5, 5.71), who has not posted a win since the second week of the season. The righthander permitted four runs and a career-high 12 hits over 5 2/3 innings in Wednesday's 6-4 win over Washington but did not factor into the decision.