Dodgers  10    Giants  3

Los Angeles Dodgers (83-58) at San Francisco Giants (76-64), 10:15 p.m.

Sports Network | September 11, 2009

(Sports Network) - Now would be a good time for Giants starting pitcher Matt Cain to get his first career win against the Dodgers, as the two ballclubs kick off a three-game series tonight at AT&T Park.

Cain is 0-6 with a 3.97 earned run average in 12 lifetime matchups with Los Angeles, and did not factor in the outcome of a 5-4 loss to the Dodgers back on April 15. He allowed two runs in six innings at Chavez Ravine.

The right-hander was 0-2 in seven starts before beating Milwaukee the previous time out on Saturday at Miller Park, as Cain held the Brewers to a pair of runs in seven innings with five strikeouts, improving to 13-4 with a 2.51 ERA in 28 starts this season.

San Francisco hopes Cain can keep the momentum going and cut into Colorado's lead atop the NL Wild Card standings. It is 4 1/2 games off the pace and has lost two straight and three of the last four contests. In Wednesday's 4-2 loss to the San Diego Padres in the finale of a three-game series, Andres Torres hit a two-run homer and Bengie Molina finished with a team-high two hits.

"We've got to get the line moving. We've got to get some base hits," said Giants manager Bruce Bochy. "It's pretty simple. We need some guys on base and then we got to get a timely hit. And right now we're sputtering."

Barry Zito fell to 9-12 this season after he yielded three runs and six hits through five innings.

Los Angeles sits just two games in front of the red-hot Rockies in the NL West standings and failed in its bid for a three-game sweep of Arizona with Wednesday's 4-3 loss. Ramon Troncoso walked Mark Reynolds with the bases loaded to force in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth to suffer the loss and starter Jon Garland allowed three runs over six innings.

"I'm very positive about this series," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. "We had an opportunity [to sweep]. You can't ask for any more than that."

Manny Ramirez finished with two hits, including a home run, and two RBI, while James Loney went deep for LA, which is 3-3 in its last six games overall.

Hiroki Kuroda gets the ball for Torre's club tonight and he is 5-6 with a 4.15 ERA in 17 games (16 starts) this season. Kuroda lost his most recent trip to the hill in a 4-3 setback versus San Diego in Sunday, as he surrendered four runs -- three earned -- in five innings of work.

The Japanese right-hander is 1-1 with a 4.00 ERA in five career starts against the Giants, and beat them back on August 10 at AT&T Park. Kuroda limited San Francisco to a run in 6 1/3 innings of a 4-2 triumph.

Los Angeles leads the 2009 season series with San Francisco by a 7-5 count.