(Sports Network) - The San Francisco Giants hope to receive a needed lift from both pitcher Matt Cain and by playing in front of their home fans this afternoon, when the badly-slumping club starts up a three-game series with the San Francisco Giants in the first outing at AT&T Park of the young season.

The Giants head into their home opener having lost five of six tests on a week-long road trip in which the offense mustered a paltry 12 runs and batted just .221 as a group. San Francisco was shut out twice during the trek, including Sunday's finale of a weekend set with the Milwaukee Brewers.

Brewers ace Ben Sheets dominated the Giants hitters as Milwaukee completed a three-game sweep of the Giants with a 7-0 victory yesterday afternoon. The right-hander yielded just five hits and struck out eight without a walk, while throwing 78 of 109 pitches for strikes.

Barry Zito (0-2) suffered the loss for San Francisco after surrendering five runs -- three earned -- on eight hits in five innings of work. The Giants have been blanked in each of Zito's first two starts of the season.

Cain was also a victim of the Giants' lifeless offense in his season debut. The talented right-hander limited Los Angeles to three hits over 5 2/3 shutout innings this past Tuesday, but left with the game still scoreless and wound up with a no decision.

The Giants failing to score runs is nothing new in Cain's starts. The 23-year- old received the second-worst run support among National League hurlers last season, a major reason why he finished the year with a poor 7-16 overall record.

Cain recorded an outstanding 2.41 earned run average in six starts against San Diego in 2007, but went 0-3 in those games because the Giants totaled a mere 12 runs over those six appearances. The former first-round draft pick is 3-3 with a 2.07 ERA in 11 lifetime matchups versus the Padres.

San Diego went 4-3 on a season-opening homestand but ended the residency on a down note, dropping a 3-2 decision to the rival Dodgers on Sunday. Los Angeles' Chin-Lung Hu singled in the eventual game-winning run with one out in the top of the ninth inning.

Russell Martin drew a leadoff walk off Padres closer Trevor Hoffman (0-2) to start the ninth and advanced to second on a groundout before Hu laced a base hit to left to snap a 2-2 deadlock.

The loss spoiled a strong performance from San Diego starter Chris Young, who allowed just two runs on five hits and struck out eight Dodgers over the first seven frames.

Tadahito Iguchi went 2-for-4 and scored both runs for the Padres, who lost two of the three games with Los Angeles over the weekend. Adrian Gonzalez also collected two hits, including an RBI double.

San Diego will send future Hall of Famer Greg Maddux to the mound this afternoon. The four-time NL Cy Young Award winner has owned San Francisco in recent years, having won five consecutive decisions against the Giants and going 2-0 with a 1.86 ERA in three starts versus the club last season.

Maddux, who turns 42 on April 14, has not lost to San Francisco since May 9, 2003, a span of nine straight starts.

The veteran righty was not particuarly good in his first outing of the year, however. Maddux gave up three homers and four overall runs (three earned) in a six-inning stint against Houston on Wednesday, although he did not factor in the decision.

Over the course of his lengthy career, Maddux owns a sparkling 28-14 record and a 2.90 ERA and five complete games in 49 starts against the Giants.

San Diego won 14 of its 18 encounters with San Francisco in 2007 and went 6-3 at AT&T Park last season. The Padres have taken 10 of the last 11 meetings between the NL West rivals.