San Francisco @ Los Angeles preview

Last Meeting ( Apr 2, 2013 ) San Francisco 3, LA Dodgers 0

The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants have each benefited from masterful pitching performances from young left-handers to start the season. Clayton Kershaw threw a four-hit shutout on Opening Day for the Dodgers and Madison Bumgarner went out Tuesday and blanked Los Angeles on two hits over eight innings in a 3-0 victory. Two veteran right-handers - Los Angeles' Josh Beckett and San Francisco's Tim Lincecum - will take their turn as the Dodgers host the Giants on Wednesday in the rubber game of the season-opening series.

Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp need to get untracked for the Dodgers. Ethier has struck out four times in seven at-bats and Kemp has hit the ball out of the infield once in seven plate appearances. Dodgers left-fielder Carl Crawford had two hits in the opener but did not start the second game as manager Don Mattingly wants to ease the veteran back into full-time duty after he underwent wrist and shoulder surgeries last season.

TV: 10 p.m. ET, ESPN2, KCAL (Los Angeles), Comcast SportsNet Bay Area (San Francisco)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Dodgers RH Josh Beckett (2012: 7-14, 4.65) vs. Giants RH Tim Lincecum (10-15, 5.18 ERA)

Beckett is looking to bounce back from his first losing season since 2002. He’ll turn 33 in May, so he should have plenty of life left in his arm. He started 30 games as recently as 2011 and finished 13-7 with a 2.89 ERA that season. Beckett had a rough spring, allowing five home runs in 17.1 innings and posting a 7.79 ERA. In his final start Friday night against the Angels, he allowed seven runs on nine hits, including two home runs, in four innings. He is 4-4 in eight starts against the Giants, most recently losing a matchup against Lincecum last September.

Though his numbers have faded badly in the last five years, Lincecum still owns the second-lowest ERA (2.81) against the Dodgers among active pitchers. He has dominated Kemp every season except 2011, when the Dodgers slugger went 7-for-14 against Lincecum on his way to coming close to the Triple Crown. In the other four seasons, Kemp is 2-for-28 against Lincecum. The Giants were hoping to see a stronger spring from Lincecum after his struggles last season, but he finished with a 10.57 ERA. Lincecum is in the final year of a two-year contract, so a number of general managers will be watching him closely as the season unwinds.

WALK-OFFS

1. Giants C Buster Posey, who signed a nine-year, $167-million contract last weekend, is 1-for-7 to start the season with two strikeouts and two double-play grounders.

2. The Giants have hit into four double plays this season.

3. Dodgers SS Justin Sellers, in the starting lineup because Hanley Ramirez is out for eight weeks with a thumb injury suffered in the World Baseball Classic, has committed two errors through the first two games, both in the same inning Tuesday.

PREDICTION: Giants 6, Dodgers 3