San Francisco @ Milwaukee preview

Last Meeting ( Jul 29, 2018 ) Milwaukee 5, San Francisco 8

The Milwaukee Brewers head into the weekend leading the wild-card race in the National League, but competition is far from settled. The Brewers will try to maintain their slim advantage when they host the San Francisco Giants in the opener of a three-game series on Friday.

Milwaukee enters the weekend a half-game ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals for the top spot and two games clear of the Los Angeles Dodgers after taking two of three from the Chicago Cubs this week to clinch a fifth straight series win. The Brewers are still chasing the Cubs in the NL Central and trail by four games with another showdown looming next week. "It would have been nice to sweep (those) guys, but it's always tough to sweep a team - and they have a pretty good team over there," Brewers CF Lorenzo Cain told reporters after a 6-4 loss on Friday. "We've been playing them tough all year. It's definitely been good games all season long. I don't expect anything less when we play those guys (next week)." The Giants will hope to take advantage of a Milwaukee team looking ahead and snap a five-game slide when they pit left-hander Derek Holland against Brewers righty Chase Anderson on Friday.

TV: 8:10 p.m. ET, NBCS Bay Area (San Francisco), FS Wisconsin, Dish455 (Milwaukee)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Giants LH Derek Holland (7-8, 3.56 ERA) vs. Brewers RH Chase Anderson (9-7, 3.96)

Holland has not lost since returning to the rotation on July 25 and breezed through six innings while allowing one run and four hits in a no-decision against the New York Mets on Saturday. The Ohio native has surrendered one or no runs in each of his last four outings and hasn't given up a home run in any of the last five. Holland is seeing Milwaukee for the first time this season and is 3-5 with a 3.45 ERA in 16 games - 15 starts - on the road.

Anderson is struggling to work deep into games and last recorded an out in the seventh inning against the Minnesota Twins on July 4. The 30-year-old allowed one run and four hits in five innings at Washington on Friday and kept the ball in the ballpark - a rarity for a pitcher tied for the NL lead with 28 homers allowed. Anderson did not surrender a home run at San Francisco on July 27 and earned a win while scattering one run and four hits over six frames.

WALK-OFFS

1. Brewers LF Christian Yelich reached base safely in each of the last 22 games.

2. Giants 2B Joe Panik has multiple hits in each of his last two games after going a combined 3-for-22 in the previous six contests.

3. Milwaukee LHP Xavier Cedeno has yet to allow a run in three appearances since joining the team, spanning 2 1/3 innings.

PREDICTION: Brewers 8, Giants 2