Los Angeles @ San Francisco preview

Last Meeting ( Jul 5, 2013 ) LA Dodgers 10, San Francisco 2

The surging Los Angeles Dodgers have won 11 of their last 13 games heading into Saturday’s contest against the host San Francisco Giants, but received a scare Friday when center fielder Matt Kemp left the game with left shoulder AC join irritation. Kemp, who has already missed 24 games this season with a hamstring injury, will sit out Saturday before being re-evaluated Sunday. He was replaced in Friday’s 10-2 victory by Carl Crawford, who was activated from the disabled list after missing more than a month with a strained hamstring.

The Giants are in a free fall after losing 10 of their last 11 games, but are only 5 1/2 games behind first-place Arizona. San Francisco is among several teams in the market for starting pitching, but its most pressing need might be another bat in the lineup. The Giants have scored two runs or fewer in 11 of their last 14 games, and third baseman Pablo Sandoval has two hits in his last 34 at-bats.

TV: 7:15 p.m. ET, Fox

PITCHING MATCHUP: Dodgers RH Stephen Fife (3-2, 2.83 ERA) vs. Giants LH Madison Bumgarner (8-5, 3.08)

Fife has been a pleasant surprise for the Dodgers with four quality starts in his last five outings. He tossed seven scoreless innings against the Phillies on Sunday, and has posted a 1.83 ERA over his last three starts. The 26-year-old, who has a 2.77 ERA in two career starts against the Giants, allowed three runs over 6 2/3 innings against the Giants on June 25.

Bumgarner has been the Giants’ most consistent starter and continued to impress Sunday by holding the Rockies to one run over seven innings. The 23-year-old has given up eight earned runs over his last 33 innings covering five starts. He is 6-3 with a 2.54 ERA in 10 career games (nine starts) against the Dodgers, including a 1.20 ERA in two starts this season.

WALK-OFFS

1. Los Angeles SS Hanley Ramirez is batting .492 during his 16-game hitting streak.

2. San Francisco CF Andres Torres left Friday’s game with a right calf cramp and is listed as day-to-day.

3. The Dodgers optioned OF Scott Van Slyke to Triple-A Albuquerque to make room for Crawford.

PREDICTION: Giants 3, Dodgers 1