Top of the third inning the San Francisco Giants Casey Schmitt belts a grand slam home run as Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Will Smith looks on. It was Schmitt’s first career grand slam. It was the first game of the three game series on Fri Jun 13, 2025 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

The San Francisco Giants (41-29) beat the Los Angeles Dodgers (41-29) in game one of their series 6-2 Friday night. Willy Adames got a solo home run in the first inning for the first lead of the game. In the third inning Casey Schmitt unleashed a 423 foot shot to left center with the bases loaded; the grand slam gave the Giants a 5-1 lead. Andrew Knizner hit his first home run as a Giant, the third home run for the Giants in this game.

The Giants started off the week with a series win over the Colorado Rockies. Friday night, after facing the worst team in baseball, they faced one of the best teams in baseball, the Dodgers fighting with the Giants for first place in the National League West.

The Dodgers had a tough series to start off their week taking on the San Diego Padres. They won game one in extra innings, got crushed in game two 11-1 but won game three winning the series.

This is the first time these two rivals have faced each other this season. The Giants were missing Matt Chapman out with a hand injury and Patrick Bailey with a neck issue both out for a 10-day IL.

The Dodgers have a slew of injuries although their main players will be in action Friday night. San Francisco will have their hands full facing the likes of Shohei Otani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Will Smith, Teoscar Hernandez and Max Muncy.

All of these guys have impressive batting averages but every one of them is capable of hitting the ball out of the park. This series could prove to be a dogfight between these two teams who have had a longstanding rivalry. It’s always a great competitive series when these two teams matchup. The Giants have tied for first place in the division with Friday night’s win. Los Angeles had a different outcome in mind.

Game recap: Willie Adames got the Giants up on scoreboard 1-0 in the first inning with a solo home run to right center as he continues the amazing path he has been on.

The Dodgers threatened in the second inning with two runners on the corners with one out. Los Angeles was 90 feet away from tying up this game. Andy Pages hit a sacrifice fly allowing Will Smith to score from third base and this game was tied 1-1.

With two outs in the top of the third inning, the Giants had the bases loaded with Casey Schmitt at the plate. Schmitt came through hitting a grand slam driving Jung Hoo Lee, Wilmer Flores, and Heliot Ramos home for a 5-1 San Francisco lead. The Dodgers Yamamoto was struggling on the mound with not only the home runs but he already had walked four.

The Giants took the 5-1 lead into the top of the sixth inning. Logan Webb faced the top of the Dodger lineup in the bottom of the inning and had only given up 1 hit through six innings. Webb was having an impressive game.

San Francisco had back to back hits in the seventh inning. Dominic Smith singled followed by a double from Flores and San Francisco had runners on second and third. Schmitt struck out leaving the runners stranded but the Giants kept their lead intact going into the bottom of the seventh inning. The Dodgers Teoscar Hernandez hit a solo home run in the seventh but that would be it for Los Angeles still trailing 5-2.

It was a memorable game for Andrew Knizner hitting his first home run as a Giant in the top of the eight inning extending the Giants lead to 6-2. Tyler Rogers relieved Logan Webb in the bottom of the eighth inning. Webb had a terrific game allowing two hits, two runs, three walks and four strikeouts.

Ryan Walker came in to close out the game for San Francisco. There were two down in the bottom of the ninth inning with Hernandez at the plate, the Dodgers last hope . He struck out and that was the ball game 6-2. The Giants and the Dodgers now have the exact same record deadlocked for first in the National League West.

First pitch for game two of this series is scheduled for 7:10 PM Saturday night. Los Angeles will be looking to even up this series while the Giants would like nothing better than to take a 2-0 lead in the series. Landan Roupp will take the mound for the Giants with a 4-4 win/loss record and a 3.29 ERA. The Dodgers plan on starting the veteran Clayton Kershaw. He has a 1-0 win/loss record and a 4.35 ERA.