Los Angeles @ San Francisco preview

Last Meeting ( Jul 21, 2010 ) San Francisco 0, LA Dodgers 2

Going up against Tim Lincecum isn’t always fun for pitchers – but it has to be less painful than getting hit in the head by a foul ball.

Carlos Monasterios will be pitching Friday night against the two-time reigning Cy Young Award winner when the Los Angeles Dodgers visit the San Francisco Giants in the opener of a three-game series.

Monasterios is probably glad he's even able to make his scheduled start. He was sitting the dugout last Sunday when a foul ball by Carlos Beltran of the New York Mets struck him in the right side of his head. Fortunately for Monasterios, he never lost consciousness and wasn’t serious injured.

The previous night, Monasterios delivered his best starting performance since early June when he blanked the New York Mets over five innings. He might need another sharp outing with Lincecum as his opponent.

Lincecum (10-4) has a 3.12 earned-run average and ranks third in the National League with 143 strikeouts. He hasn’t pitched as well as either of the last two seasons but shouldn't be taken lightly.

Los Angeles center fielder Matt Kemp and catcher Russell Martin know firsthand what Lincecum can do. Kemp is 2-for-17 (.118) with eight strikeouts against Lincecum while Martin is 0-for-14.

Second baseman Blake DeWitt has had the most success of any Dodgers player, hitting .545 (6-for-11) all-time against Lincecum.

Lincecum is 1-0 with a no-decision in two previous starts against Los Angeles this season. Monasterios has never started against San Francisco but has pitched four scoreless innings over two relief appearances this season against the Giants.

The outing against the Mets was the first start of July for Monasterios. The results were pleasing because Monasterios totaled just 17 2/3 innings in his four previous starts – all in June – and had a 6.62 ERA.

Friday will mark Monasterios’ eighth start of the season. He is 3-2 with a 3.30 ERA.

The Dodgers are 6-3 in the season series with the Giants but trail second-place San Francisco by 3 1/2 games. Los Angeles is now seven games out of first after losing two of three to San Diego in a series that ended Thursday.

New acquisition Scott Podsednik batted leadoff Thursday in his first game with the Dodgers and went 0-for-3 with a walk and stolen base. Rafael Furcal was dropped to second and went 0-for-4. Furcal is mired in a 1-for-23 slump that has seen his average drop from .337 to .314.

San Francisco lost to Florida on Thursday and rookie clean-up hitter Buster Posey went 0-for-3 to see his hitting streak end at 21. Posey fell one game short of matching San Francisco’s rookie hitting streak record held by Willie McCovey.

Posey batted .440 with six homers and 23 RBIs during the streak.

Giants outfielder Andres Torres is batting .364 (12-of-33) over the last seven games. Torres is batting .287 with 10 homers.