The Giants limped into the weekend coming off a series loss to the last-place Rockies. Defensive shortcomings and uncharacteristic bullpen performance led to a 5-5 road trip and had put San Francisco 6.5 games out of first place.
It’s still early June, but a continuation of subpar play against their rivals could have sunk the Giants to a dangerous low in the division.
Instead, Jakob Junis shoved before leaving with a hamstring strain in the opener. Curt Casali gutted through his own barking hamstring to guide seven pitchers in a 3-2 nailbiter. And Sunday, the Giants completed their first shutout of the season.
Powered by two first-inning solo home runs, the Giants (33-27) captured their three-game sweep over the Dodgers since 2016. Carlos Rodón’s strong six innings preceded more excellent relief work from John Brebbia, Dominic Leone and Jake McGee. The 2-0 win bookended a statement weekend for San Francisco.
Rodón trotted to the mound for the first time moments after Matt Cain, one day from the 10-year anniversary of his perfect game, delivered a perfect strike to his former teammate Brandon Crawford.
Rodón, who was two outs away from becoming the 24th pitcher to throw a perfect game last year for Chicago, retired Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Trea Turner in order.
Right after Rodón’s Cain homage, the Giants pounced on the Dodgers. Austin Slater drove a Julio Urías curveball to dead center for his third career leadoff home run. Mike Yastrzemski followed him by going the other way for a solo shot, continuing his All-Star level play.
Slater entered the series finale with a career .298 average against the Dodgers. The outfielder had hit four homers in 33 games against LA. Yastrzemski, who has posted a .844 OPS on the year, has hit half of his six home runs against left-handed pitchers — already eclipsing last year’s total of two.
Slater and Yastrzemski handed Rodón a lead, and he sprinted it toward the finish line. He got stronger as the game went on, picking up momentum with every inning.
Rodón touched 100.2 mph on his fastball — the fastest pitch of his season — in the fifth inning in which he stranded Dodgers on the corners. His eighth strikeout froze Freddie Freeman in a 2-2 count.
But walks and foul balls drove Rodón’s pitch count — a growing trend for him. And Urías retired 16 straight Giants to keep the score 2-0. The Dodgers’ lefty posted his fifth career double-digit strikeout game, matching Rodón after the two early homers.
After Rodón departed, John Brebbia worked around a leadoff double. Dominic Leone howled after stranding runners on the corners by striking out Chris Taylor in the eighth.
A pile-up of injuries make the Giants’ weekend performance even more impressive. Their best hitter, Brandon Belt, has missed the last 20 games. Evan Longoria and Tommy La Stella aren’t 100%. LaMonte Wade Jr. and Steven Duggar are on the IL, along with three members of the starting rotation.
Even at full strength, there’s a reason San Francisco hasn’t swept the Dodgers in over five years. Since the last sweep, the Dodgers have been to three World Series and won one.
That last sweep was so long ago, Howie Kendrick and Denard Span were the respective leadoff hitters. Now-retirees Chase Utley, Joe Panik, Andre Ethier, Hunter Pence and Conor Gillaspie suited up.
Suddenly, with the weekend sweep, the Giants are right back in the NL West mix.
