Los Angeles (80-73) has won 15 of its last 18 games - and seven straight at home - to take a firm grasp of the division race. It has nine games left, and leads second-place Arizona by 3 1/2 games.

While Lincecum has faced the Diamondbacks four times this year, he has yet to pitch against the Dodgers, who won't see him again this weekend after he was the hard-luck loser for San Francisco (68-85) despite going the distance in a 3-2 loss on Thursday at Arizona.

The Dodgers instead get a chance to hand Zito (9-16, 5.48 ERA) his major league-leading 17th loss. Zito is 1-2 with a 5.82 ERA in three starts against Los Angeles this year.

The Giants, though, have won three straight games started by the 2002 AL Cy Young Award winner, who is 1-0 with a 4.34 ERA in that span.

The Dodgers return home after closing a 7-3 road trip with a 4-3, 12-inning win at Pittsburgh on Thursday. James Loney's RBI single was the winning margin for Los Angeles, which left 12 runners on base.

"This time of year, every day is like a season, and you need to win every day," Los Angeles manager Joe Torre said.

Dodgers slugger Manny Ramirez has been nothing short of spectacular in his new home ballpark. Ramirez is hitting .410 (25-for-61) with six homers and 24 RBIs in 19 games at Dodger Stadium, with Los Angeles winning 15 of them.

He will have to turn around his poor career numbers against Zito. Ramirez is 6-for-31 (.194) with eight strikeouts and 10 walks in his career versus the left-hander.

San Francisco's loss Thursday capped a four-game sweep by Arizona. The Giants scored nine runs in that series.

"We're having a tough time getting a hit with men on base," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "This is probably as tough a one as we've had all year."

They have had just as much trouble against Greg Maddux (7-12, 4.08), who is 2-0 with a 1.38 ERA in his first four starts against the Giants this year - all with San Diego before he was traded to Los Angeles on Aug. 19.

The four-time NL Cy Young Award winner earned his 300th career victory by beating San Francisco on Aug. 7, 2004. That began a stretch in which Maddux is 7-0 with a 2.27 ERA in 10 starts versus the Giants, who he has beaten 30 times in his career.

He is 1-3 with a 4.55 ERA in his first five starts this year with Los Angeles.

The future Hall of Famer turned in his best start of the year as a Dodger on Sunday at Colorado, retiring his first 13 hitters and allowing two hits in seven scoreless innings in a 1-0, 10-inning loss.