San Diego (28-19) at San Francisco (23-23), 10:15 pm EDT

SAN FRANCISCO (Ticker) -- The San Francisco Giants took two of three meetings with the San Diego Padres from April 25-27. The teams open up another three-game series Friday, but the Giants will be facing a much-improved Padres squad.

San Diego has won 19 of 25 games since that series to take over first place in the National League West Division. The Padres are 17-6 this month and need one more win to set a club record for wins in May.

The Padres took two of three against the Arizona Diamondbacks this week, with Jake Peavy throwing a two-hitter in Thursday's rubber game, a 10-0 rout.

Brian Lawrence (2-5, 5.47 ERA) hopes for a similar performance, but he has been one of the few disappointments for San Diego over its hot stretch. He is 0-2 this month with a 5.47 ERA in four starts. On Saturday against San Diego, the 29-year-old righthander allowed five runs in 6 1/3 innings in a 5-3 loss.

Lawrence is a pitiful 0-4 with a 9.00 ERA in five road starts this season and goes up against a Giants squad that pounded out a total of 19 runs and 33 hits in taking two of three from the Los Angeles Dodgers this week.

San Francisco hands the ball to Brad Hennessey (2-0, 3.66), who will be pitching on seven days' rest. He has logged at least six innings and yielded three runs or fewer in each of his three starts this season, including May 18 against Colorado when he allowed just two runs in 6 2/3 innings.