As the Los Angeles Dodgers inch closer to their 12th National League West title in 13 seasons, much of their damage in 2025 has come against their biggest rival.
The Dodgers (87-67) will be chasing their ninth victory this season over the San Francisco Giants (76-78) when the teams meet for the third contest of a four-game series on Saturday at Los Angeles.
The Dodgers earned a 6-3 victory over the Giants on Friday as left-hander Clayton Kershaw made the final regular-season home start of his storied career. Kershaw gave up two runs on four hits over 4 1/3 innings with six strikeouts and had an uncharacteristic four walks.
Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts hit back-to-back home runs as Los Angeles clinched its 13th consecutive playoff berth Friday. The Dodgers' magic number to win the NL West title for the 12th time in 13 seasons is four.
"It's such an incredible group of guys and we have a lot of work to do," Kershaw said on the Apple TV broadcast. "Step one tonight, we made it to the postseason. But it's going to be a really fun next month."
Up next for Los Angeles on Saturday is right-hander Tyler Glasnow (3-3, 3.06 ERA), who has reached a new level in September by allowing a combined two runs on three hits over two starts (13 2/3 innings). One of those outings was seven no-hit innings on Sept. 8 against the Colorado Rockies.
The next start came at San Francisco on Sunday, when Glasnow gave up one run on three hits over 6 1/3 innings despite his claim that the timing of his delivery was less than ideal. He is 4-1 with a 3.12 ERA in seven career appearances (six starts) against the Giants.
The burst of success has come after a back injury scare that forced Glasnow home prematurely from a road trip earlier in the month. No serious issue was revealed. He also missed all of May and June with shoulder inflammation.
"I think where I'm at since I got back from the IL, it's been easier to kind of put it out of my head and go compete," Glasnow said of nights when his pitching arsenal is not at its best. "If my stuff (stinks), it's kind of whatever. Just compete, try to get in the zone, get some weak contact. It's helpful."
The Giants decided on right-hander Kai-Wei Teng (2-4, 6.41) as their starter for Saturday. Teng, who has yet to face the Dodgers in 11 career appearances (six starts), had a four-inning start against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday and gave up an unearned run on two hits.
After scoring one run on one hit in Thursday's series-opening loss, the Giants matched that with their first batter Friday when Heliot Ramos belted a home run on Kershaw's third pitch. San Francisco ended the night with eight hits to seven for the Dodgers.
The Giants were making a playoff push at the start of September when they reeled off 11 victories in 12 games but are now four games out of the last wild-card spot in the NL with eight games remaining. They would need to jump over three teams to make the playoffs.
"That's the way we've been. We've been a little Jekyll and Hyde. We've been real good or real bad for stretches," Giants manager Bob Melvin said. "Unfortunately, that's been the case. We don't have much time left."
--Field Level Media
