San Francisco @ San Diego preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 11, 2010 ) San Francisco 0, San Diego 1

A big-time pitching matchup ends the crucial four-game series between the San Diego Padres and San Francisco when Mat Latos and Tim Lincecum square off at Petco Park on Sunday afternoon.

Latos is arguably the hottest pitcher in baseball and Lincecum is the reigning two-time National League Cy Young Award winner. Making the matchup even more intense is that the Padres will be two games in front of the Giants should they win and the teams will be back in a virtual tie for first in the NL West should the Giants prevail.

Latos (14-5) leads the NL with a 2.21 earned-run average and has been the hardest pitcher in the majors to bat against, holding opponents to a .191 average. Latos has 170 strikeouts in 162 2/3 innings and has three 10-strikeout performances in his last four starts despite not pitching more than seven innings in any of them.

He has allowed two earned runs or less in 15 consecutive starts, a major-league record. Latos has also dominated San Francisco this season, going 2-0 with an 0.96 ERA in four starts.

Latos has allowed just three runs and 16 hits in 28 innings against the Giants, including a one-hit shutout in May. He has struck out 22 and walked just two.

Lincecum has struggled for a significant part of the season but has been splendid over his last two starts while beating Colorado and Arizona.

Lincecum struck out nine in eight innings while holding the Rockies to one run and five hits on Sept. 1, then struck out 11 in 6 2/3 innings while beating the Diamondbacks on Sept. 7.

Prior to the back-to-back solid outings, Lincecum lost five straight starts, lasting four innings or less in two of them.

The 13-9 record and 3.69 ERA represent a sharp drop-off from the previous two seasons for Lincecum.

The Padres knocked him out of an August 15 start after just 3 2/3 innings in his only meeting against them this season. Lincecum gave up six runs – five earned – and eight hits.

Lincecum is 4-3 with a 2.16 ERA in 12 career starts against San Diego.

The most productive hitter on both teams this season has struggled against the Sunday starters.

San Diego first baseman Adrian Gonzalez has fanned 16 times in 36 career at-bats against Lincecum while batting .194 without any homers.

San Francisco’s Aubrey Huff is 0-for-12 against Latos.

The Giants won the first two games of the series before the Padres won Saturday’s nationally televised contest 1-0 on Yorvit Torrealba’s homer. The victory was just the fourth in 16 games for San Diego, while San Francisco fell for just the fourth time in 13 contests.