The San Francisco Giants and the San Diego Padres are coming into this contest with quite the opposite records. The Giants have won three of their first four for the season while the Padres have lost all but one, last night's 1-0 loss in extra innings to the Giants in the opener of this four game set included. I expect to see quite a few more runs tonight, and the number set for the total seem really low to me.

Here are my keys to the game:

1. Pitching - The Padres will hand the ball to Brandon Morrow who will make his first start for the club after coming over from the Blue Jays where he spent the last five seasons. He compiled a 5.67 ERA over 13 outings, six starts, last season. He conceded nine runs on 24 hits over 17 innings in spring training and could be in for a rough outing here against a very competent Giants offense. San Francisco will counter with Tim Lincecum who struggled on the road all season long last year, going 3-6 with a 6.02 ERA over 14 outings. He's been roughed up pretty badly in spring training as well, posting a 5.95 ERA over 19 2/3 innings of work.

2. The Padres Improved Offense - It is a much improved Padres line-up from last season when they scored the least amount of runs of any team in the majors. They had tallied 14 runs over their first three games with each game climbing over the total before getting blanked Thursday.

3. X-Factor - Nori Aoki spent last year with the Royals but after the loss in the World Series he realized the grass was greener in San Francisco and decided to join the Giants. He's had a great start with the club, going 7-for-17 with three walks over his first four games.

Selection: This is a play on SF@SD to go over the total (*)