Seven September showdowns between the Giants and Dodgers: Does it get any better?
Unfortunately, these matchups won’t mean much in terms of the National League West, at least for the Giants. Even with their recent surge, eight games separate them from the division lead. That said, the teams’ weekend series in San Francisco that begins Friday night — followed by four more in Los Angeles next week — comes with more stakes than merely giving the Giants a chance to play spoilers.
You could say it’s not exactly the scenario schedule-makers envisioned when they drew up the last month of the season, but then again, the Giants are right in line with their preseason projections. It has, as manager Bob Melvin put it, “been a little bit of a rollercoaster ride,” but they’re right where most methodologies had them: somewhere around .500, currently two games over.
Los Angeles Dodgers’ Hyeseong Kim (6) steals second base as San Francisco Giants’ Willy Adames (2) drops the ball while attempting the tag in the third inning of their MLB game at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, July 11, 2025. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
Meanwhile, just about everything that can go wrong has for their rivals down south. Maybe it is the hangover from their World Series celebration, or the weight of expectations from their superteam billing, but the Dodgers simply have not been the force they were expected to be.
They aren’t challenging the 2001 Mariners for the regular-season wins record, nor do they even pose much of a threat to this year’s Phillies for the top seed in the National League. They are sure to take these games seriously, given that they need to win them to stave off the Padres, who are only three behind them in the NL West.
In a sense, both teams are playing to make up lost time.
The Giants, while not far off from expectations on the whole, aren’t soon to forget the six straight games they lost in the middle of July, or the six more they dropped only a week later, or the seven-game skid that followed in August. This is a team that, since the All-Star break, has had separate stretches of 2-12 and 2-11, as well as a more recent 13-3 run.
“It’s just been all over the place as far as wins and losses — a little bit streaky,” Melvin said. “But we’re playing well right now.”
Melvin’s job may have been in jeopardy as the Giants played themselves out of the postseason picture, but his fate for 2026 looks more secure now. The Giants had fallen 7½ games back of the final wild card on Aug. 22, but enter this weekend well within striking distance of the Mets, separated by only two games.
As for the stakes at hand, look no further than the pitching matchups.
Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts sits next to former San Francisco Giant Barry Bonds before a game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Saturday, July 12, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
The Giants won’t see their old pal, Blake Snell, but the Dodgers lined up three equally daunting foes: Yoshinobu Yamamoto on Friday, Clayton Kershaw on Saturday, and Tyler Glasnow on Sunday. The Giants, in turn, haven’t set their rotation but are expected to move up Logan Webb and Robbie Ray to start Saturday and Sunday, with Justin Verlander scheduled to start the series opener.
Two of the starters the Giants will face flirted with no-hit bids their last time on the mound. Yamamoto was one out away against the Orioles, and the Rockies went hitless for eight innings against Glasnow. But in a microcosm of the Dodgers’ season, their bullpen blew the game in Baltimore and lost the no-hit bid against Colorado.
Their rotation, when healthy, can credibly claim to have aces in all five spots. But even after signing two of the top relievers available this offseason, their bullpen has been a constant source of consternation. Tanner Scott, their $72 million closer, has blown nine saves, the most in the majors, and their core group of relievers that combined for 10.7 Wins Above Replacement in 2024 have been near-replacement-level this season (1.5 WAR, per Baseball-Reference).
For the first time in forever, the Giants can credibly claim a one-two punch in their lineup to match the thump the Dodgers get from Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, and Mookie Betts. Since the start of August, that trio has produced 26 home runs, only two more than Rafael Devers (12) and Willy Adames (12) as a duo.
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Since beginning the season with a stomach bug, Betts has been a shell of himself, and the Dodgers have gotten next to nothing from the other former Giant they employ, Michael Conforto, who has been the least productive corner outfielder in the majors (78 wRC+).
The Giants haven’t won a season series with their rivals since 2021, the only time since 2012 any other team topped them for the division crown. They would need to win five of seven to secure a winning record against the Dodgers this season. Would that also be enough to spring them over the Mets and into playoff position?
San Francisco Giants’ Rafael Devers (16) hits a sacrifice fly against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the eighth inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Saturday, July 12, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
More often in recent years, when the teams have faced off in September and October, the Giants’ postseason fates haven’t fared well.
“What’s in our control is just trying to win a baseball game,” Melvin said. “There’s a lot of teams bunched up — a couple behind us, a couple ahead of us. It’s just trying to win as many baseball games as we can. That’s what we’ve been talking about more so than focusing on who or where or when. It’s just trying to win a baseball game.”