The San Francisco Giants would prefer Jonathan Sanchez let his pitching, not his mouth, do the talking against the San Diego Padres.

Sanchez looks to help the Giants move into a first-place tie in the NL West with a second straight victory over the division-leading Padres on Friday night at Petco Park.

The left-hander made noise prior to San Francisco's home series with San Diego last month when he predicted the Giants would sweep the three-game set and supplant the Padres atop the West standings. That never happened as San Diego won two of three.

Sanchez (10-8, 3.39 ERA) fell to 0-3 with a 3.08 ERA in four starts versus San Diego this year after he allowed three runs in 5 1-3 innings of a 3-2 loss in the Aug. 13 opener of that set.

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This time around, Sanchez is keeping quiet.

"I have nothing to say," Sanchez told the Giants' official website. "And that's the way I feel about it."

His teammates and coaches are glad.

"He was talked to," manager Bruce Bochy said. "He was told to just go out there and pitch. Those types of things don't need to be said."

Though Sanchez is 2-5 in 10 starts against the Padres, he's posted a 2.84 ERA in those outings. His teammates have given him an average of 1.37 runs of support versus San Diego in 2010.

Sanchez, however, is 2-0 with a 2.30 ERA in four starts since losing to the Padres (79-60). He gave up three hits and struck out nine in seven innings of a 3-0 win at Los Angeles on Sunday.

"I just get better every day," said Sanchez, who has allowed one run over 15 innings of his last two starts.

The Giants (79-62) moved within one game of the Padres after a 7-3 win in Thursday's opener. San Francisco has won just three times in 12 games against San Diego this season, and is 2-4 at Petco.

"We've had some bad times against these guys, so winning the first one is big for us,' winning pitcher Matt Cain said.

Aubrey Huff had three hits and one of four home runs for the Giants, who have won eight of 11. The Padres, meanwhile, have dropped 11 of 14.

"You view this as an opportunity," Giants reliever Javier Lopez said. "There's an opportunity to keep the pressure on them."

Huff is 9 for 21 with two homers in his last five games, and 6 for 15 against scheduled starter Clayton Richard (12-6, 3.43).

After losing his only appearance versus San Francisco last season, Richard is 3-0 with a 2.05 ERA in four starts against the Giants in 2009. He allowed two runs in six innings and outpitched Sanchez in San Diego's series-opening victory at San Francisco last month.

The left-hander, 5-1 with a 3.04 ERA in his last eight starts, allowed two runs in six innings but did not factor in the decision of a 4-2 loss to Colorado on Sunday.

Ryan Ludwick and Will Venable each homered Thursday for the Padres, who were held to four or fewer runs for the 13th straight game.

Ludwick is batting .225 with four homers and 16 RBIs in 36 games since being traded to San Diego, but is 8 for 19 in his last five against the Giants.