SAN FRANCISCO -- Two teams tail-spinning into dangerous territory in the National League playoff picture lk to turn things around while adding to the others misery when the New York Mets and San Francisco Giants open a four-game series Thursday night.The pitching matchup in the opener has an October feel to it: Jacob deGrom vs. Madison Bumgarner. But truth be told, neither New York nor San Francisco figures to be playing much fall baseball the way their summers have been going.The Mets (60-60) arrive in San Francisco having lost two of three at Arizona to open a 10-game trip.And now comes the tough part: four at San Francisco (66-54) and three at St. Louis (64-56), two of the four teams the Mets are chasing in the wild-card race.The race has gone more backward than forward for both the Mets and the Giants in recent weeks.Having lost seven of 10 against the Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres -- the bottom two teams in the NL West -- the Mets are just 13-18 since the All-Star break, the fourth-worst record in the NL.They are hoping deGrom (7-5, 2.30 ERA) can help get things headed back in the right direction.The right-hander has been terrific in his past nine starts. If you throw out his only loss in that stretch -- when he was roughed up for five runs in 3 2/3 innings at Miami on July 23 -- he has allowed just five runs in 56 2/3 innings, an 0.79 ERA.However, he has only four wins to show for those games, an indication of just how bad the Mets have been of late.They are planning to have shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera (Thursday) and Yoenis Cespedes (Friday) back for the San Francisco series, which might help. Cabrera has been sidelined since Aug. 1 with a strained left patellar tendon, while Cespedes has placed out since Aug. 4 due to a strained right quadriceps.San Francisco, meanwhile, fell to the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-5 on Wednesday, capping a three-game series sweep. The Giants have lost five of six on their current 10-game homestand.They have been even worse than the Mets since the All-Star break, going 9-21, the worst record in baseball.Along the way, the Giants have dropped out of first place in the NL West after holding the top spot for 93 consecutive days. They will begin play Thursday trailing the Los Angeles Dodgers by 1 1/2 games in the division.Were taking some blows right now, Giants manager Bruce Bochy said after the Wednesday loss. But its a tough club. Its a resilient club. They came out and did some gd things (Wednesday). Were creating some gd chances and opportunities.The Giants will begin the series with their ace on the mound. Bumgarner (11-7, 2.11 ERA) has never lost to the Mets in his career, having gone 4-0 with a 1.03 ERA in five starts.In fact, Bumgarner hasnt even allowed a run to the Mets since Sept. 13, 2013. He is the only pitcher with at least two starts against the Mets not to have given up a run against them over the past three seasons.Interestingly, both the Mets and Giants already are planning ahead for a big series next week, when New York visits St. Louis and San Francisco goes to Dodger Stadium.Both managers are of the same mindset with a day off Monday. Each indicated Wednesday he is considering skipping his fifth starter (the Mets Jonathon Niese and Giants Matt Cain) so that deGrom and Bumgarner can begin that series as well.Well have to see what happens (Thursday) night, Mets manager Terry Collins said of deGroms pitch count. Fran Tarkenton Jersey . Cuban testified Thursday that he was upset when the companys CEO told him news that would reduce the value of his shares, for which hed paid $7.5 million. But he said he did nothing improper when he sold those shares over the next two days. Cris Carter Jersey .C. United of Major League Soccer. United chose the defender in the second round of the 2013 MLS re-entry draft. http://www.authenticvikingspro.com/Paul-krause-vikings-jersey/ . Ferrer, trying to win his fourth title on Mexican soil, will next play South Africas Kevin Anderson, who eliminated American Sam Querrey,7-6 (2), 6-4. Also Wednesday, Gilles Simon (6) of France beat Donald Young of the United States 6-4, 6-3, Ukraines Alexandr Dolgopolov downed Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-4 and Croatias Ivo Karlovic defeated Dudi Sela of Israel 7-6 (4), 6-2. Custom Minnesota Vikings Jerseys . They hope to persuade the other team owners and commissioner Roger Gdell to put pressure on Redskins owner Daniel Snyder to drop the nickname they find offensive. "Given the way the meeting transpired," Ray Halbritter, an Oneida representative and leader of the "Change the Mascot Campaign," said Wednesday, "it became somewhat evident they were defending the continued use of the name. Mike Hughes Jersey . According to a report from the Vancouver Province, the Lions are expected to replace former DC Rich Stubler with defensive backs coach Mark Washington. ' ' '