San Francisco @ San Diego preview

Last Meeting ( Apr 26, 2013 ) San Francisco 1, San Diego 2

Barry Zito squares off against Eric Stults for the second time in six days Saturday when the visiting San Francisco Giants continue their three-game series against the San Diego Padres. The Giants have lost three straight and are 0-for-15 with runners in scoring position over their last two games, including a 2-1 loss Friday. The Padres have won two consecutive games by one run since losing five in a row, and their pitchers have allowed only two runs over the last 25 innings.

Both teams are hoping to get more production from their second basemen, with the Giants’ Marco Scutaro batting .217 through 83 at-bats. Scutaro had a career-high 74 RBIs last season, but has driven in four runs through the first 23 games. The Padres’ Jedd Gyorko doesn’t have Scutaro’s track record, but there’s reason to think the rookie is close to breaking out. “Jedd's been squaring some balls up," manager Bud Black told reporters. “This guy can hit.” Gyorko is batting .237, but has five hits over his last four games.

TV: 8:40 p.m. ET, Comcast SportsNet Bay Area (San Francisco), Fox Sports San Diego

PITCHING MATCHUP: Giants LH Barry Zito (3-1, 3.42 ERA) vs. Padres LH Eric Stults (2-2, 4.70)

Stults has been the Padres’ most consistent starter, but he ran into trouble Sunday against the Giants while giving up five runs over seven innings. Buster Posey delivered the key blow with a two-run homer in the fifth inning of the Giants' 5-0 victory. The 33-year-old is 4-3 with a 4.94 ERA in 10 career starts (12 games) against San Francisco. Pablo Sandoval is 8-for-13 and Buster Posey is 5-for-9 against Stults, who has earned the win in four of his last seven starts against the Giants since 2009.

Zito is hoping to improve on his last road outing, when he was pounded for nine runs in 2 2/3 innings at Milwaukee on April 16. He bounced back Sunday at home against the Padres, tossing seven scoreless innings to beat San Diego for the first time in nearly two years. Chase Headley is 9-for-34 with one home run and Nick Hundley is 5-for-14 against Zito, who hasn’t allowed a run in three of his first four starts. The 34-year-old left-hander is 5-9 with a 4.52 ERA in 22 career games (21 starts) against San Diego.

WALK-OFFS

1. San Francisco is 17-1 in games started by Zito since Aug. 2 of last season.

2. The Padres bullpen has allowed one run in its last 21 2/3 innings.

3. The Giants are 9-3 when scoring first.

PREDICTION: Padres 5, Giants 3