By Jeremy Harness

Sure, the Giants have a very good hold on one of the wild-card spots in the National League, but there is one more goal out there that seemed less than attainable as recent as a few weeks ago.

That’s because the NL West title is still within striking distance, as the Giants only sit 2½ games behind the division-leading Los Angeles Dodgers at press time, with the Giants having a favorable schedule heading down the stretch.

The Giants will head to San Diego to face the Padres, who are nowhere near the playoff race and are playing for next season at this point of the season.

There is a slight issue, however. Right-hander Tim Hudson (9-11, 3.41 ERA) is set to kick off the three-game series at Petco Park opposite San Diego’s Odrisamer Despaigne (3-7, 3.63 ERA), but he will need a huge bounce-back from his previous start.

Really, it couldn’t get much worse for Hudson last Saturday, as he lasted only one inning against the Dodgers and was ripped for six runs on eight hits in a 17-0 Giants loss that paved the way for the team down south to take the three-game series and distance themselves a little bit.

Meanwhile, Despaigne isn’t exactly on a roll himself. The right-hander was beaten by the Arizona Diamondbacks, a team which the Giants swept this week, in his last start. He gave up five runs – three earned – on six hits over 5 2/3 innings against the Diamondbacks and was blitzed by the Dodgers in his preceding outing in surrendering seven runs – six earned – on eight hits over only 4 1/3 innings.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers are currently in a four-game series with the Chicago Cubs, who are in last place in the National League Central and do not seem to offer them much resistance. That, and the fact that Clayton Kershaw is taking the ball Friday night against the Cubs, which is as close to a guaranteed win as you will find.

The series to look for, obviously, is the last series between the Giants and Dodgers at Dodger Stadium, which starts Monday night and is now expected to determine who wins the West.