By Morris Phillips

Could a season’s turning point actually take place in late April?

The Giants would like to think so, and they certainly battled the hated Dodgers this week as if it were a modern-day Custer’s last stand.

“They rose to the occasion,” manager Bruce Bochy said after the Giants struck last in a 3-2 win over the Dodgers Thursday afternoon.  “I said we had to play our best ball against these guys.  They came in hot.  And we did.  We pitched well, our bats were better and they kept fighting.”

How unexpected was this sweep of the Dodgers, the first for the Giants over their rival at home since 2013?

Despite the Giants being the current kings of October with rings to match, the Dodgers are the overwhelming favorite to win the NL West in 2015, and they came to Pac Bell Park this week sporting a seven-game win streak.  On the other hand, the Giants simply weren’t giving their home crowd any bang for their buck.  They opened the home schedule with six losses in seven games, and fans on the view level reportedly couldn’t tell if Giants’ batters were swinging bats or toothpicks.

On top of that, the Giants were missing too many faces.  Injuries to Hunter Pence, Matt Cain and Travis Ishikawa had the Giants minus a few difference-makers, not a good look for a team already six games out of first place and scuffling.

But once put face-to-face with the Dodgers, the reinforcements stood up.  Justin Maxwell came up with the game-winning hit on Thursday, Ryan Vogelsong got the start and pitched effectively through six innings and the Giants overcame an early 2-0 deficit with a game-extending run in the ninth, then the game-winner in the tenth.

The Dodgers entered the series scoring better than five runs a game, but were held to two runs in each game as Tim Lincecum, Madison Bumgarner, Vogelsong and the entirety of the bullpen had encouraging outings.

Angel Pagan got things going in the tenth with a base hit, then after Buster Posey was retired, Pagan stole second.  Manager Don Mattingly then elected to walk Brandon Belt ahead of Maxwell’s game-winner.

“I was ready to hit,” Maxwell said.  “I can’t wait to get on the plane and celebrate with the team.”

Maxwell came close to giving the Giants a lead in the eighth when he sent a liner up the middle with the bases loaded and two outs.  But second baseman Howie Kendrick’s diving catch ended the threat and preserved the Dodgers’ 2-1 lead.

In the ninth, the Giants did get even when Brandon Crawford tripled, scoring pinch-runner Matt Duffy from first.

Santiago Casilla pitched a scoreless tenth and picked up the win for the second straight day.

The Giants open a three-game series in Denver against the Rockies on Friday with rookies Chris Heston of the Giants and Colorado’s Eddie Butler reprising their matchup from the Giants’ home opener.