San Francisco @ San Diego preview

Last Meeting ( Aug 15, 2010 ) San Diego 8, San Francisco 2

A pivotal four-game series that could decide the direction of the National League West race begins Thursday night when the first-place San Diego Padres host the second-place San Francisco Giants.

The Padres lead the Giants by two games with the red-hot Colorado Rockies looming just 4 1/2 games behind the leaders.

The Giants had a four-game winning streak snapped Wednesday night by the Arizona Diamondbacks and fell a game further behind when the Padres completed a three-game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

San Diego’s modest three-game winning streak comes immediately after a 10-game losing skid dwindled its commanding 6 1/2-game lead down to one game.

Two pitchers who have performed well since the All-Star break match up in the opener with Jon Garland starting for the Padres and Matt Cain taking the hill for the Giants.

Garland has a 2.85 earned-run average in 10 starts since the break and is 13-10 with a 3.31 ERA. Cain has a 2.91 ERA in 10 post all-star game starts and is 10-10 with a 3.18 ERA.

Garland has 113 strikeouts this season, just two shy of his career-high set in 2005 with the Chicago White Sox. He is 3-0 with a 2.15 ERA in four career starts against San Francisco, including an April victory this season in which he allowed one run and six hits in seven innings.

A couple of Giants will be ecstatic to see Garland standing on the mound. Third baseman Pablo Sandoval is 6-for-9 with two doubles, a homer and three RBIs against Garland, and outfielder Jose Guillen is batting .474 in 19 career at-bats with a homer and six RBIs.

Cain lost twice to the Padres in less than a week back in May and is just 4-8 lifetime against San Diego despite a 3.12 ERA in 21 career starts.

San Diego first baseman Adrian Gonzalez is a .314 career hitter in 51 at-bats against Cain. Gonzalez has three homers and 10 RBIs against Cain.

Speedy rookie center fielder Luis Durango provided a spark for San Diego in Wednesday’s victory over the Dodgers. Durango went 2-for-5 with two RBIs, scored a run and stole a base.

The Padres sat slumping right fielder Ryan Ludwick, who is just 2-for-18 over his last five games and hitting just .214 in 35 games since being acquired from St. Louis.

San Francisco’s Aubrey Huff went 2-for-4 on Wednesday is batting .353 (6-for-17) over his last four games.

Giants second baseman Freddy Sanchez has homered in back-to-back games after hitting just three homers in his first 92 games.