Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani looks after he hits a home run in the bottom of the sixth inning at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Sun Jun 15, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

After winning game one in their three game series with the Los Angeles Dodgers (42-29), the San Francisco Giants (41-30) got pounded Saturday in game two 11-5. The Los Angeles Dodgers evened up the series with a great offensive effort ; much improved over Friday night’s game.

Shohei Ohtani had a couple of home runs and the Dodgers scored five runs in the second inning and three in the sixth. The Giants were quiet offensively until the ninth inning when Casey Schmitt hit a grand slam with the bases loaded.

Schmitt had back-to-back grand slams, the one Friday and then in this game. The Dodgers Kiki Hernandez gave up the grand slam along with four hits and three walks.

Game recap: After a poor offensive effort in Friday’s game, the Dodgers got their first run in the first inning. A solo shot from Shohei Ohtani gave Los Angeles the early 1-0 lead.

The Dodgers had an impressive second inning scoring five runs and taking a 6-0 lead. Andy Pages singled Teoscar Hernandez home extending their lead to 2-0.

Michael Conforto doubled Max Muncy home followed by a Mookie Betts double that scored two runs Pages and Conforto. The final Los Angeles run in the second was a Will Smith sacrifice bringing Ohtani home giving the home team a 6-0 lead.

The Dodgers did not take their foot off the pedal scoring again in the third inning. Hyeseong Kim singled to center bringing Max Muncy home for a 7-0 lead. The roles had certainly been reversed in game two with the Dodgers offense coming to life through the first half of the game.

San Francisco helped their rival along the way with seven walks through five innings. The Giants starting pitcher Landon Roupp only pitched 1 2/3 innings allowing for hits, six runs and five walks before being relieved by Spencer Bivens.

He really struggled with no strikeouts. On the other hand the Dodgers Clayton Kershaw was having an easy time with only 58 pitches through five innings.

Home run #25 for Shohei Ohtani came in the bottom of the sixth inning, his second of the game for a 8-0 Los Angeles lead. The Dodgers would follow that up with a two run home run off the bat of Teoscar Hernandez and a 10-0 tally.

Clayton Kershaw was relieved in the eighth inning by Michael Kopech. Kershaw had a great seven innings allowing three hits, no runs, one walk and five strikeouts. He certainly got the job done Friday night.

The Dodgers had their third home run of the game in the eighth inning off the bat of Miguel Rojas. The game went into the top of the ninth inning and San Francisco was down to their last three outs.

With only three hits so far in the game there was little chance for the Giants but it did get interesting when Kiki Hernandez took the mound to close out the game. He loaded the bases. gave up a grand slam, three walks and was positively awful. He was relieved by Anthony Banda who closed out the game. The final was 11-5.

Game notes: The Giants won the first game of their series with the Dodgers Friday night 6-2 via a Casey Schmitt grand slam in the third inning. Although it was early in the game, the Giants held on adding another run in the eighth inning for the win. Friday San Francisco starting pitcher Logan Webb had a great game pitching seven innings. Los Angeles did not have the best game in game one and got even in the series in game two. San Francisco finished up the game with 10 hits while the Dodgers only had two hits on Friday. For Saturday night the Giants clobbered the Dodgers 10-5.

Saturday, the Giants will be looking to win game three and the series. With this win, the Dodgers took back sole possession of first place in the National League West. First pitch for game three is scheduled for 4:00 PM and can be viewed on ESPN. Kyle Harrison will take the mound for San Francisco with a 1-1 win/loss record and a 4.56 ERA. Dustin May will start for the Dodgers with a 3-4 win/loss record and a 4.46 ERA.