Giants vs. Diamondbacks, Series Preview: The Battle for First Place at McCovey Cove

The San Francisco Giants are glad to be back in the comfy confines of AT&T Park after a brutal three game series out in Cincinnati, but now must turn their attention to the surging Arizona Diamondbacks, who arrive at the Cove looking to take first place in the NL West from the defending champs. 

The Giants moved back to .500 on the road after being swept at the Great American Ballpark over the weekend, while Arizona took two out of three from the Dodgers down in L.A. San Francisco currently clings to a two game lead in the division which can evaporate quickly with sluggers like Chris Young and Justin Upton in the D'back lineup. The Giants will send out their three-headed All-Star monster of starters in Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum and Ryan Vogelsong to hopefully keep the Diamondbacks' bats silent, while Ian Kennedy, Daniel Hudson, and the newly acquired Jason Marquis will do the same for Arizona. 

Diamondbacks catcher Miguel Montero did a little Charlie Manuel-ing about the Giants recently, here's what he had to say:

"They're a good team, there's no doubt about it," D-backs catcher Miguel Montero said of the Giants. "They're good, but you know what? We're good too. It's a competition and we've got to compete. You compare player to player I think we've got a better team. I don't know that's just my thought."    

The D'backs and Giants each made their own moves before the trade deadline to bolster their indivadual rosters respectfully. Arizona needed to work on their pitching so they brought in the aforementioned Jason Marquis as well as former Oakland reliever Brad Ziegler; two guys they hope will help keep other offenses at bay and help close out games. The Giants' well-documented move of Carlos Beltran came along with two important infielders, Jeff Keppinger from the Astros and Orlando Cabrera from the Indians; with Cabrera and Beltran making their debuts at AT&T Park.  All these guys get on a base and bring battle-tested gloves to the field, things the Giants most definitely needed. Who's additions will win out over the series? Only time will tell. 

All that being said, the Giants have won 17 of their last 21 at AT&T against the D'backs, including at sweep by the Bay on May 10-12 during their last visit to China Basin.