The Dodgers spent Saturday night trading punches with the Giants, but once the game opened up, Los Angeles delivered the final blow. After a back-and-forth first half, the Dodgers ripped off six straight runs and rolled to a 10-4 win.
Mookie Betts set the tone early and kept coming all night. He opened the bottom of the first with a leadoff double, then scored on Max Muncy’s two-strike, two-out RBI double to put the Dodgers on the board first. In the second, Betts stayed hot with an RBI single the other way, bringing in Josue De Paula and pushing the lead to 2-0.
San Francisco answered in the third. After Tarik Skubal allowed a one-out single to Turner Hill, Victor Bericoto jumped on a 3-2 fastball and sent it deep over the center field wall to tie the game at 2. The Dodgers punched right back when Will Smith led off the bottom half with a solo homer, his second in as many games, to restore the lead.
The Giants kept grinding. Andrew Knizner and Osleivis Basabe opened the fourth with back-to-back singles, Christian Koss moved both runners up with a bunt, and Jonah Cox dropped down a squeeze bunt to bring home Knizner and tie it at 3. Los Angeles answered again in the bottom of the inning, with Betts lining his second double of the night to drive in another run.
Then the Giants tied it one more time in the fifth. Bericoto and Jung Hoo Lee each doubled, and the game was back even at 4.
By then, Skubal’s night had turned into his roughest of the season, and by the end of five innings he had allowed a season-high four earned runs. His three strikeouts were his fewest in a start since he struck out three on August 14 of last season against the Minnesota Twins.
The Dodgers finally broke it open in the fifth. Teoscar Hernández started a two-out rally with an opposite-field single, Kyle Tucker and De Paula both walked, and Tommy Edman snapped out of a 1-37 stretch with a go-ahead two-run single. Miguel Rojas followed with a pinch-hit RBI single to score De Paula, though Edman was thrown out at the plate trying to make it a four-run inning.
From there, Los Angeles kept adding. Evan Phillips worked a clean sixth, then the Dodgers put up three more runs in the bottom of the inning, highlighted by a two-run single from De Paula that stretched the lead to 10-4. Alex Vesia threw a scoreless seventh, and Edwin Díaz handled the eighth in his second straight appearance since returning from injury, striking out two in a scoreless frame.
Betts’ night was the loudest individual performance of the game. He went 4-for-4 with three doubles and two RBI, reached base five times after a walk in the seventh, and is now 10-for-12 over his last three games with three doubles, two home runs and five RBI.
The win keeps the Dodgers four games ahead of the Atlanta Braves for the No. 2 seed in the National League, while they still trail the Milwaukee Brewers by two games for the top seed.
Los Angeles finishes the series against San Francisco on Sunday at 1:10 p.m. PT on SportsNet LA, then comes home to face the San Diego Padres in its final regular season home series starting Tuesday. Both teams have yet to announce their starters.
In Other News...
Dodgers Just Got An October Boost Fans Have Been Waiting For
The Dodgers got a familiar September jolt with two important reinforcements coming off the injured list as the club heads into the final week of the regular season. Dave Roberts said right-hander Tyler Glasnow is healthy and ready to help when October arrives, a welcome development for a team that has spent much of the year trying to keep its pitching group intact for the stretch run.
Los Angeles also had to make room on the roster by sending two players back down, another reminder of how quickly the picture can change at this time of year. Beyond the immediate playoff implications, there is already some offseason intrigue swirling around the Dodgers, with ESPNs Jeff Passan reporting that pitcher Tarik Skubal could be in line for a massive free-agent deal this winter, a detail that will only add to the teams long-term planning conversation. [Read more 🡒]
Dodgers Fans Just Got A New Reason To Watch Tarik Skubal
Tarik Skubal showed up at SoFi Stadium on Monday night with another Dodgers star in tow, as he and Mookie Betts took in the Rams-Giants matchup. Skubal was down at field level while Betts watched from a suite that also included Myles Garrett and Aaron Donalds wife, a small but notable reminder that the Dodgers biggest names do not exactly disappear when the baseball schedule pauses.
For Los Angeles, Skubals appearance comes at an interesting moment. He was recently placed on the Dodgers bereavement list and is currently expected to start the final regular-season game, though that could still change. Even with the season winding down, the Dodgers are keeping an eye on anything that might affect the rotation, and a night out around the NFL only added another layer to the intrigue around Skubals week. [Read more 🡒]
Dodgers Letting Ryan Ward Go Took An Unexpected Turn
Ryan Wards exit from the Dodgers organization moved quickly. Just six days after being designated for assignment, he agreed to a contract with the Chunichi Dragons of Nippon Professional Baseball, ending a run that had kept him in the Dodgers system for his entire professional career. It was a familiar kind of roster churn for this time of year, but the destination made the move stand out.
For the Dodgers, Wards recent minor league production had already made his standing uncertain, and the roster rules created an unusual layer to his departure. He was only eligible to play for the Dodgers in the 2026 postseason, which meant Los Angeles still had some control over his future in a narrow sense, even as the organization opened the door for him to continue his career abroad. [Read more 🡒]