When Erik Miller called out the entire Cincinnati Reds dugout after striking out Sal Stewart for the final out of the game last week, the energy surrounding the SF Giants shifted. It provided the Giants that edge they had been missing. Since then, the Giants have won four of their last five games, including two against their eternal rival, the Los Angeles Dodgers.
One of baseball’s most storied rivalries had become lopsided over the last couple of seasons. San Francisco entered Tuesday night’s game having lost 13 of its last 15 series against its Southern California foe, dating back to August 2022. The Bay Area team hasn’t won a season series against the Dodgers since 2021, when it narrowly edged L.A. 10-9. Two games into the first series of the season, the Giants are up 2-0 and have clinched back-to-back series wins for the first time this season. And though none of those victories have been slugfests, wins are wins, especially against the back-to-back World Series champions.
"We're just hunting for wins. There's different ways to get wins than just get a win in the win column. But for confidence and general sake, you do need to stack wins. So, honestly, just trying to hunt as many as possible," following the Giants' 3-1 victory in the series opener.
Pitching set the tone, and clutch hitting did the rest
The Dodgers came into the series with the league's best offense by a mile. They had basically doubled up the Giants in every offensive categories. But in 12 innings pitched so far, the Giants' two starters — Landen Roupp and Tyler Mahle — have limited this juggernaut offense to just one run and four hits, helping the Giants become the first team to shut out this Dodgers lineup this season.
That lone run came during a fourth-inning meltdown in the series opener. Roupp completely lost his command and issued four walks, including a bases-loaded free pass to Hyeseong Kim. Twenty-one of his 32 pitches were balls, but he eventually escaped by inducing a grounder to the left side of the infield that the defense sharply turned into a double play.
"Definitely not happy about that (the fourth inning). I made the bullpen throw a little more than they should have. I wish I could have gone six or seven but it worked out and we got the win," Roupp said after earning his fourth win of the season, tied more second-most in the league.
Speaking of the bullpen, it has been the best in baseball since April 6. Following Ryan Walker’s third save of the season in the Giants’ 3-0 win over the Dodgers on Wednesday night, the group now boasts a league-best 2.03 ERA and has allowed the fewest hits (27) and runs (10), while also posting the lowest batting average against (.175) and OPS (.551) over that stretch.
After pressing all the right buttons in the series opener, Tony Vitello had to deploy just two relievers in Game 2, as Tyler Mahle tossed seven scoreless innings. Fresh off his worst start of the season in Cincinnati, where he allowed eight runs in just four innings, the newly acquired Giant finally picked up his first win of the season after being tagged with the loss in three of his first four starts.
"I gotta do my job and make pitches and let the defense work for me, and the defense did that tonight. They made a lot of nice plays out there," Mahle said after contributing to snapping Shohei Ohtani's 53-game on-base streak, the longest such streak in the big leagues since the Angels’ Orlando Cabrera reached in 63 consecutive games in 2006.
The infield was indeed brilliant. All four of the Giants' infielders made spectacular plays. Rafael Devers (after I questioned his defense) probably had the most dazzling one, when he pounced on a 103.1 mph ground ball off Ohtani's bat and shoveled it to Mahle for the out at first. The first baseman's swing also looked better after struggling out of the gate. The two hits he collected — a double and single — had an average exit velocity of 107 mph.
But the swing of the night came from Patrick Bailey, who else. With runners on second and third with one out — and Ohtani off the mound after six brilliant innings — Bailey crushed a three-run no-doubter to left field, his first home run since his walk-off grand-slam at Dodger Stadium last season.
"HIGH DRIVE TO LEFT..." pic.twitter.com/8OqfyMQ25c
— SFGiants (@SFGiants) April 23, 2026
Bailey has that clutch gene in him; there’s no denying that. Last season alone, he had three walk-off hits, including the now-legendary walk-off inside-the-park homer against the Phillies. Vitello could have easily gone with Jerar Encarnacion against lefty Jack Dreyer, but instead, he decided to trust his catcher — and Bailey was appreciative of that.
It's been a rough year offensively for the former first round pick. He's slashing just .155/.222/.207 with a .429 OPS, and with the emergence of Daniel Susac, his role has been a major storyline. But with Susac set to miss three weeks of action the Giants are going to need Bailey to provide something offensively. That swing was the confirmation he could, and when asked what made him believe he could come up clutch despite his early-season woes, he dropped a bar.
"God didn't put a spirit of fear in me, he put a power of love and self discipline."
The Giants have an opportunity to sweep the Dodgers for the first time since June 2023, and Logan Webb will be on the mound as they try to do just that. He’ll take on Tyler Glasnow, who is coming off an impressive performance in Coors Field, where he gave up just two hits and one run over seven innings.
Beating this Dodgers team once would have been a nice spark. Beating them twice is a real momentum-builder. Sweeping them could be a turning point.