Giants transfer inside half-game of Dodgers after historic rout

LOS ANGELES — Suddenly, the Giants are the most popular crew in baseball.

Or perhaps it’s not so sudden. Their 15-0 thrashing of the Dodgers on Saturday night time at Dodger Stadium was a sixth straight victory, however the reality is that San Francisco has been doing this for some time now. Dating again to May 15, the Giants have received 21 of their final 30 video games, a .700 clip that’s one of the best successful proportion within the Majors in that stretch.

“Obviously, it’s huge to get a series win against L.A., have a chance at a sweep tomorrow,” mentioned starter Alex Wood, who threw 5 scoreless innings in his return from the 15-day injured record. “But I think we’re just really settling into who we are as a team. It’s been really fun to watch.”

During their present successful streak, the Giants are averaging 9.7 runs per recreation, having scored seven or extra runs in all however one contest. Saturday might need been probably the most complete-team effort, with nearly everybody contributing, particularly on offense.

There was LaMonte Wade Jr., who had three hits, together with a three-run dwelling run within the fifth. Wade additionally confirmed nice self-discipline by working a stroll to load the bases within the sixth for pinch-hitter J.D. Davis, who made it a laugher for San Francisco with a grand slam.

Brandon Crawford recorded his first four-hit recreation of the season, driving in a pair of runs earlier than leaving within the seventh for defensive substitute David Villar. It was Crawford’s first recreation with greater than three hits since Aug. 16, 2021, vs. the Mets.

It’s been an total down yr on offense for the 36-year-old Crawford, who entered the night time batting .203 with a .630 OPS. But supervisor Gabe Kapler has observed an upturn for Crawford because the Giants’ late-May collection in Minnesota. In that 17-game span, Crawford has gone 17-for-50 (.340) with six doubles.

“Across the board, he’s having good at-bats and playing good defense,” mentioned Kapler. “Really a pivotal part of our team when he’s on the field.”

Besides the ultimate rating, the Giants scored one other victory by getting Davis into the sport after he was out of the lineup for the previous three contests attributable to a proper ankle sprain. With lefty Alex Vesia on the mound, Joc Pederson due up and the Giants already main by 5, Kapler referred to as upon Davis, who crushed a first-pitch four-seamer a Statcast-projected 441 toes to useless heart. 

Davis credited some work he did in early batting follow for his means to drive the ball the way in which he did.

“[I’ve] just been a little bit inconsistent at the plate and [was trying to] just kind of get back to the basics of things and get back on that fastball,” mentioned Davis. “And so it kind of translated in the game — just being more direct to the baseball, direct to the heater, and good things just happened.”

The victory moved the Giants to only half a recreation behind the second-place Dodgers within the National League West standings. They stay 4 1/2 video games behind the first-place D-backs.

Add it to the intensive story that’s the Giants-Dodgers rivalry, because the Giants have seldom completed this sort of injury towards their foes — on both coast. This was the Giants’ first defeat of the Dodgers by 10 or extra runs since Sept. 14, 2013, a 19-3 rout at Dodger Stadium. It was the primary time the Giants have shut out the Dodgers by 12-plus runs since a 12-0 recreation in L.A. on April 3, 2002. It was the Giants’ second-largest shutout victory all time vs. the Dodgers, behind a 16-0 win on July 3, 1949, on the Polo Grounds.

Wood, who’s skilled the rivalry from each side, is aware of in addition to anybody how a lot performances like this imply.

“Every time they come to our place or we come here, it’s heightened,” mentioned Wood. “There’s always big crowds. You want to come and you want to win a series. And we come in and win the first two, we’re playing really good ball. But I think it’s a day at a time with us. We’re coming in every day focused. Guys are working hard. Everybody’s taking accountability for their jobs. And it’s just kind of staying process-oriented.”