Dodgers Web musings: Is it sweep or pack it up for Dodgers this week in San Francisco?

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Desperate times call for desperate questions, and Dylan Hernandez asks a pointed one in Monday’s edition of The Times:

Do the Dodgers have to sweep the Giants in the three-game series that starts Monday night in San Francisco?

The Dodgers open play in the City by the Bay a staggering 12½ back of the Giants in the National League West. Opportunities to drag themselves back in the race are becoming precious. Could this be their final shot?

-- Hernandez also has Manager Don Mattingly’s passionate defense of struggling shortstop Rafael Furcal.

-- The Wall Street Journal reports that injured Giants fan Bryan Stow’s lawsuit against the Dodgers could make him the largest unsecured creditor. Manny Ramirez is currently the largest at $21 million.

-- Forbes’ Mike Ozanian writes that purchasing a bankrupt Major League Baseball team has proven a good investment.

-- Mike Petriello of MikeSciosciasTragicIllness said struggling Juan Uribe’s biggest problem is his penchant for swinging at balls out of the strike zone, which for him are at 41.7%.

-- So much for that thought: MLB.com’s Peter Gammons said Hiroki Kuroda will not accept a trade to an East Coast team.

-- Scout.com has a list of 20 top midseason prospects, and it doesn’t include any Dodgers.

-- ESPN/LA’s Tony Jackson said the Dodgers offense looked sadly familiar in Arizona over the weekend, and looks overmatched pretty much every game.

-- The Times’ T.J. Simers thinks General Manager Ned Colletti deserves his share of blame for how the team has performed.

-- ESPN’s Jim Bowden, a former general manager, reviews each GM heading toward the July 31 non-waiver trading deadline. His take on Colletti: Can wheel and deal with the best of them.

-- And I already miss ‘Friday Night Lights.’ A great overview by Grantland.com’s Robert Mays.

-- Steve Dilbeck