Los Angeles @ San Francisco preview

Last Meeting ( Apr 3, 2013 ) San Francisco 5, LA Dodgers 3

The rival Los Angeles Dodgers grab the headlines, but the San Francisco Giants are grabbing the wins. The Giants will be looking to record their fourth straight victory when they host the Dodgers for the opener of a three-game series on Friday. Los Angeles ranks near the bottom in the majors in runs and slugging percentage despite the massive amount of money spent on player upgrades and extensions over the last two years.

The Giants, who are 2 1/2 games ahead of the Dodgers in the National League West but trail the surprising Colorado Rockies by a game, have outscored their rivals by 33 runs. San Francisco built itself into World Series winners two of the last three seasons with strong pitching and spare parts on offense. The Giants have been lifted by and by Buster Posey and Pablo Sandoval-led lineup while the staff has started slowly this year. That lineup will be going against left-hander Clayton Kershaw, who plans to make the start after being placed on the bereavement list Monday following the death of his father.

TV: 10:15 p.m. ET, PRIME (Los Angeles), KNTV (San Francisco)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Dodgers LH Clayton Kershaw (3-2, 1.73 ERA) vs. Giants LH Barry Zito (3-1, 3.29)

Kershaw will be pitching with a heavy heart after returning to his home state of Texas this week to be with his family. The 25-year-old shut out the Giants with seven strikeouts and no walks on opening day and is coming off a start almost as good when he held Milwaukee scoreless and struck out 12 without issuing a walk over eight innings. Kershaw has dominated San Francisco in his career, going 9-4 with a 1.28 ERA in 18 games (17 starts).

Zito has gone seven scoreless innings in three of his five starts but has been lit up for 15 runs (10 earned) over a total of 6 1/3 frames in the other two. One of the bad ones came on Saturday, when Zito lasted 3 2/3 innings and was charged with six runs (one earned) on six hits. The veteran left-hander missed the first series with Los Angeles, but owns a 9-10 career record with a 3.71 ERA in 26 games against the rivals.

WALK-OFFS

1. San Francisco took two of three in the first meeting, losing only Kershaw’s start.

2. Giants 1B Brandon Belt has two homers and six RBIs in the last three games.

3. Los Angeles LF Carl Crawford (hamstring) has missed two straight games and is day-to-day.

PREDICTION: Dodgers 3, Giants 1