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LOS ANGELES — Casey Schmitt took two steps out of the batter’s box and gazed into the visitor’s dugout. He didn’t care to watch a ball land halfway up the left-field bleachers. The crack of his bat echoed in the form of his teammates roaring and slapping the baby blue padding.
Schmitt’s little waddle was the type of swagger that means more in a place like this — in Chavez Ravine, against the Dodgers. The type of moment that can build the stuff of legends.
“I was just kind of in shock, he hit that very far,” said Logan Webb, who earned the win in the Giants’ 6-2 victory. “Guys were excited. Any time you hit a grand slam, especially in this place, kind of quiet the whole crowd — it’s pretty cool.”
Schmitt’s first career grand slam rattled Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto and gave the Giants a four-run lead they were able to maintain. Webb tossed a seven-inning, two-run gem and handed a lead to the best bullpen in the majors.
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The victory ties the Giants (41-29) and Dodgers atop the National League West standings and announced to the rest of the league that San Francisco can hang. It was the first meeting of the season between the two storied franchises, setting the tone for a possibly renewed era.
“There’s just something about Dodgers-Giants,” Webb said. “It’s one of the best rivalries in sports. You could feel that today. The whole crowd, the energy in the dugout, everything was just kind of amplified. You feel that at home when you’re facing them, you feel that here. So being able to come in here and do that was great. Great start to the series, get two more and come into tomorrow with that same energy. It’s always fun to come into LA and beat them.”
The oldest rivalry in America’s oldest professional sport has been mostly dormant for the past few years. The Giants haven’t held up their end of their bargain.
Since 2014, San Francisco’s last world championship, the Giants haven’t won a playoff series. In that span, the Dodgers have claimed two World Series trophies and won two more National League pennants. They’ve gainfully employed the sport’s brightest superstars, from Clayton Kershaw to Shohei Ohtani.
Perhaps the last serious clash between the star-crossed ballclubs was in 2021, when they met in an epic National League Division Series. The Dodgers spoiled the Giants’ miracle 107-win season that ended on the infamous Wilmer Flores check-swing strikeout.
Since that moment, the Giants have failed to resemble even David to the Dodgers’ Goliath. In head-to-head matchups, the Giants are 14-31 against the Dodgers over the past three seasons. Rivalries, no matter the history, can fade if they become too lopsided.
But when both teams are competitive, the rivalry is as great as anything the sport has to offer. Friday night was a declaration that the Giants are there once again.
And therefore, the rivalry is back.
Webb opened the game by striking out both Ohtani and Mookie Betts, establishing himself immediately. He later sat down Ohtani, Betts, and Freddie Freeman in order for a 1-2-3 sixth inning.
Webb allowed just one hit through six innings before Teoscar Hernández tagged him for a solo homer in the seventh. The cutter he has incorporated into his repertoire this year has diversified his pitch mix and helped keep Los Angeles’ dangerous order off balance. He threw it a career-high 29 times, giving hitters who have become familiar with him a new look.
Schmitt gave him room to work with. With two outs in the third inning, Yamamoto pitched around Wilmer Flores to load the bases for Schmitt.
“It felt like they were trying to put Flo on to get to me in that situation,” Schmitt said.
Did the young third baseman take that personally?
“I mean, who wouldn’t?” Schmitt said.
Yamamoto throws seven distinct pitches, and Schmitt’s plan was to try to be selective. He chose a 1-1 splitter, down and in at the knees, and put his best swing on it. It left his bat at 108.4 mph and would’ve cleared the fence at every ballpark.
Before it landed, 423 feet later, Yamamoto slapped his glove on his leg in frustration. Immediately after making contact, Schmitt was stone-cold strutting down the first-base line.
“All I heard was a crack of a bat and I look up and I see Schmitty just kind of pimping it,” said catcher Andrew Knizner, whose solo homer in the eighth gave the Giants an insurance run. “Subtle, subtle. But swaggy.”
In one swing, Schmitt both inserted himself into the rivalry and atoned for his ninth-inning error in the field that cost the Giants what would have been their eighth consecutive win on Thursday afternoon at Coors Field.
Schmitt was playing in place of star third baseman Matt Chapman, who tore ligaments in his right hand and will wear a splint for the next week. Chapman could be sidelined for three more weeks, but a more clear timetable will emerge once he can resume baseball activities.
Until then, Schmitt and shortstop Willy Adames will have to hold down the left side of the infield. Adames socked his third home run in the past four games, riding his hot midweek series in the Coors Field altitude into Dodger Stadium.
The Giants have risen to first place in the division with Adames, their signature free-agent signing, dipping below .200 as recently as this week. They have two Cy Young contenders in Webb and Robbie Ray and a bullpen with a MLB-leading 2.49 ERA. Timely hitting has propelled them to a 17-13 record in one-run games.
The odds are still against the Giants truly contending with the Dodgers. There will be nights where Ohtani, Freeman, and Betts — not Schmitt and Knizner — take over games.
But 12 more matchups against the Los Angeles superteam are bound to heat up the rivalry.
“I’ve gotten to meet a couple of those guys over there, they’re good dudes,” Webb said. “It’s not like you hate them. But when you go out there on the field, you’re not a huge fan of them. I’m trying to get all of them out, I’m trying to beat them. All of us feel that way.”