By Jeremy Harness

The Giants will by no means have it easy this weekend as they try once again to get over the hump in the National League West.

As they sit a full two games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers going into Friday night, the Giants have the Detroit Tigers, who are in a battle for their own division title – the American League Central – waiting for them as they prepare to kick off a three-game series at Comerica Park in Detroit.

The Giants will have perhaps their best pitcher going right now to start things off on Friday night. Jake Peavy may have a less-than-superb 4-13 record, but three of those wins have come with him in a Giants uniform in the past two months.

Peavy will take the mound opposite Detroit right-hander Rick Porcello (15-9), who sports a 3.10 earned run average. On the plus side for the Giants, Porcello didn’t exactly have a stellar outing the last time he pitched.

Porcello was ripped by the Chicago White Sox for six runs on 11 hits over 6 2/3 innings this past Sunday. However, he didn’t get a lot of help from his defense, which committed four errors behind him in the process.

On Saturday, Madison Bumgarner takes the ball against Tigers lefty David Price, for whom the Tigers traded just before the trade deadline in order to bolster their already-stacked rotation with the ultimate goal of winning the World Series.

To close things out, Tim Hudson (9-9), who has had an up-and-down first season with the Giants, will oppose Detroit’s Kyle Lobstein.

If that’s not enough to put the Giants in an uphill battle, the Dodgers have a three-game series against Arizona (58-81), the last-place team in the NL West that will pay a visit to Dodger Stadium and pretty much has nothing to play for at this point of the season.