By Morris Phillips

Now that the Giants have moved their collective heads above water, the second visit to AT&T Park by the Dodgers gives the defending World Champs an opportunity to do more than catch their breath.

Playoff teams don’t let rough times last, and the Giants have turned the page by following an early eight-game losing streak with a 17-9 stretch that has the team in the mix in the NL West.  The stretch allowed the Giants to catch and pass the Padres, D’Backs and Rockies in the standings and stay in touch with the first-place Dodgers, who haven’t been able to extend their 4 ½ game lead.

Hot bats have propelled the Giants with Brandon Belt on a tear, and Hunter Pence back in the lineup as if he hadn’t suffered a break in his left forearm that cost him the first 38 games of the season.  Impressively, the Giants scored at least eight runs in each of their four wins on the just completed road trip through Houston and Cincinnati.

But a return to AT&T means the Giants—and the Dodgers—will have to find a way without an avalanche of offense.  The cooler than usual night air pervading at AT&T Park is no friend of high-powered offenses as the Giants no doubt know.  In winning 11 of 15 at home, the Giants didn’t score more than six runs in any of the wins.

The Dodgers know too.  In getting swept last month in San Francisco, the Dodgers scored just two runs in each loss, well off their near-historic pace of more than five runs scored per game.   The Dodgers have averaged nearly a run better than any other major league club thus far, but last month in San Francisco that offense evaporated.

Now the Giants attempt to keep their rival struggling with Tim Hudson scheduled to pitch Tuesday, followed by the resurgent Tim Lincecum and Madison Bumgarner on Thursday in a third matchup with Los Angeles ace Clayton Kershaw.  The Dodgers have 3-0 Carlos Frias scheduled, followed by former Athletic Brett Anderson.  Each of the six starters will undoubtedly play heavily to the advantageous conditions in order to control the hot-hitting lineups.

Rookie leadoff man Joc Pederson and emerging hitters Justin Turner and Andy Van Slyke will be front and center on the Giants’ scouting report.  In the absence of the injured Yasiel Puig, the trio has helped to propel the Dodgers offensively, but they aren’t without warts.  Pederson has a heavy strikeout total for a guy that normally bats first.  Turner is hitting .302 at Dodgers Stadium, but went 1 for 9 in the last month’s Giants’ sweep at AT&T.

Van Slyke has forced his way into the Los Angeles outfield mix with a .362 batting average at home, but he too failed to impact the earlier series in San Francisco, where he had two singles in six at-bats.

After Thursday, the Giants don’t see the Dodgers at home until the final week of the season, so if they want to keep the pressure on the division leaders, they’ll need to do it this week.