By Jeremy Harness

Giants vs. Dodgers. It doesn’t ever get old. And just because it’s not in September doesn’y mean it’s any less significant.

And besides, when September rolls around, these two teams will most likely look back to the games that are being played now as the contests that make just as much difference between winnign the division or not.

Yes, we’re far from that point of the season, but you get the picture.

The next installment of NorCal vs. SoCal begins Friday night, as the two eternal rivals hook up at Dodger Stadium for a four-game series that starts tonight.

At the start of the season, most people were picking the Dodgers to run away with the division going away, but things are a little different now.

See, the Giants, with their improved pitching and stellar bullpen, are tied atop the National League West with the Colorado Rockies while the Dodgers, with their highly-fattened payroll, are 2 1/2 games back in second place.

Ryan Vogelsong (1-1, 4.60 ERA) will take the hill for the Giants and will head up against Josh Beckett, who has an 0-1 record with a 3.14 earned-run average and is looking for his first victory in more than a year and a half.

If the Giants’ offense performs like it did during their series defeat at the hands of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Beckett will have a great opportunity to do just that.

Friday’s matchup will feature Madison Bumgarner, the Giants’ Opening Day starter, going up against the Dodgers’ Paul Maholm, two up-and-coming star hurlers.

Yusmeiro Petit, in his first year in the starting rotation, will take the ball Saturday and will face LA righty Zack Grienke, who suffered a shoulder injury that sidelined him for two months after an on-field confrontation with San Diego’s Carlos Quentin.

And finally, Tim Hudson, who nearly had a complete game against the Padres last Wednesday, will try to close the series out in style on Sunday, but standing in his way is budding megastar Clayton Kershaw, who signed a seven-year, $215-million deal in the offseason.