Dodgers edge Giants 4-3, chase 100 wins Sunday
Kiké Hernández's ninth-inning homer lifted the Dodgers past the Giants 4-3 on Saturday at Oracle Park. Los Angeles leads the series 2-0 and can reach 100 wins in Sunday's finale. Blake Snell finished a short playoff tune-up.
Kiké Hernández led off the ninth with a tiebreaking home run, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Francisco Giants 4-3 on Saturday at Oracle Park. The win put the Dodgers up 2-0 in the weekend set after a 2-0 shutout Friday and kept a 100-win regular season in reach for Sunday's finale.
Hernández's blast — his fourth homer of the year — came against Trent Harris after the Giants had tied the game in the eighth. Tanner Scott stranded the potential tying run at second and struck out Christian Koss for his 25th save. Mookie Betts had homered with two outs in the third for Los Angeles's first hit; Miguel Rojas and Tommy Edman added RBI singles in the fourth. Blake Snell, back after leaving his prior start early with left groin tightness, worked four innings, one run, and 77 pitches in what ESPN and Associated Press framed as his final regular-season tune-up before October.
The Dodgers entered Sunday at 99-62, first in the National League West by nine games over San Diego. The Giants sat at 65-96 and had dropped seven straight to Los Angeles after taking four of five from the Dodgers early in the year. A sellout crowd of 40,124 watched Shohei Ohtani play a fourth straight day after a 13-game absence with right biceps discomfort; he went 1-for-5. Los Angeles improved to a majors-best 48-32 on the road. ESPN's recap listed Sunday starters as Dodgers opener Jack Dreyer against Giants right-hander Carson Seymour, with a pregame ceremony for retiring Giants broadcaster Mike Krukow.
Rivalry math still matters even when the division race does not. The Giants took four of five from Los Angeles early this season, then lost the next seven meetings. Saturday also closed the book on Snell's regular-season line (1.90 ERA in limited innings) and kept the bullpen hierarchy — Scott closing, Evan Phillips in the eighth — under a live test with the postseason a week away.
Sunday's box score is still the missing piece. A Dodgers win would make 100 for the first time since 2023 and complete a three-game sweep; a Giants win would end Los Angeles's seven-game rivalry streak and leave the club one short of that round number. Until that final posts, the weekend series is a confirmed Saturday edge plus an open finale — not a clinched 100-win season.
Where outlets agree ESPN and Associated Press agree the Dodgers beat the Giants 4-3 on Saturday at Oracle Park on Kiké Hernández's ninth-inning home run, that Los Angeles leads the weekend series 2-0 after Friday's 2-0 win, and that Blake Snell worked a short final regular-season outing before October.
Where they differ Whether the Dodgers finish with 100 wins — and how much weight to give Sunday's finale versus October roster and pitching readiness — remains open until Sunday's box score is final. ESPN's recap stresses the scheduled Dreyer-Seymour matchup and Krukow ceremony; Associated Press stresses the Saturday score sequence and rivalry streak.