By Jeremy Harness

photo by gammonsdaily.com file photo: 36 year old Travis Ishikawa was signed to a minor league contract with the Giants

SAN FRANCISCO–The Giants have lost four of their past seven games, but they still sit four games ahead in the National League West.

In second place in the division is none other than the Los Angeles Dodgers, and they are on a slightly more of an upward trend than the Giants are at this point. While the Giants split a four-game series a week ago in Atlanta, the Dodgers swept those very same Braves at Dodger Stadium in a three-game series last weekend.

Friday night’s opener at AT&T Park is expected to be a dandy. Clayton Kershaw (8-1, 1.46 ERA) will take the hill for the Dodgers, but this time, he won’t be going up against Madison Bumgarner but rather Johnny Cueto (9-1, 2.16 ERA).

On Saturday, Jeff Samardzija will start for the Giants and will square off against Scott Kazmir, who has spent time with the A’s in the past. The Dodgers will send a 19-year-old to the mound in left-hander Julio Urias to face Giants righty Jake Peavy.

NOTES: The Giants are going to get re-acquainted by an old friend.

The team re-signed outfielder Travis Ishikawa, who came up through the Giants’ organization and won a place in team lore with his game-winning home run that sent the Giants to the World Series in 2014, to a minor-league contract on Thursday.

The 32-year-old Ishikawa had spent this season with the White Sox organization, but he was recently released after batting only .201 in 175 plate appearances. At this point, Ishikawa does not have a defined role with the big club, but the sole purpose of signing him is merely for depth.

Meanwhile, the team also signed 36-year-old Chris Denorfia, who has played with the division foe San Diego Padres for the past few years, to a minor-league deal. He has not played this season, but he did hit .269 last year while with the Cubs organization.