The Los Angeles Dodgers once again flexed their offensive muscle at Oracle Park, overpowering the San Francisco Giants 10-2 on Sunday, September 14, 2025. With this emphatic victory, the Dodgers not only secured back-to-back double-digit scoring games—a feat they hadn’t accomplished since late April—but also took the season series against their storied rivals, keeping a firm grip on the National League West.
Sunday’s contest started with both teams’ aces, Tyler Glasnow and Robbie Ray, struggling mightily to find the strike zone. The two combined for a staggering 110 pitches in just the first three innings, with only 54 landing as strikes. Walks, wild pitches, and mounting pitch counts defined the early frames. Ray, in particular, never seemed to settle in. He walked three batters in his first two innings and was ultimately chased in the fifth after a sequence that began with a walk to Mookie Betts, a single by Teoscar Hernández, and a booming RBI double from Freddie Freeman. That hit not only knocked Ray out of the game but also opened the floodgates for a relentless Dodgers rally.
The top of the fifth inning proved to be the turning point. The Dodgers’ offense erupted for five runs in a 24-minute marathon, capitalizing on Ray’s departure and the Giants’ bullpen struggles. Michael Conforto, coming off the bench as a pinch-hitter, delivered the decisive blow—a two-run single that broke the game wide open. Conforto’s performance was a personal triumph, as he went 3-for-4 and lifted his batting average to .200 for the first time since April 19. “That’s nice. It’s been a long time. It’s been like five months,” Conforto said with a grin after the game. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts added, “He’s off the interstate, which is a good thing.”
Freeman’s double in the fifth inning was not just crucial for the game—it was historic. It marked his 39th of the season, putting him atop the National League and tying him with Manny Ramirez for 34th place on the all-time doubles list with 547. Freeman, already a four-time league leader in doubles, is now one shy of reaching 40 doubles in a season for the sixth time in his illustrious career.
Betts and Hernández continued their torrid stretch at the top of the Dodgers’ lineup. Over the six-game span leading up to Sunday, the dynamic duo combined for 23 hits and 14 runs scored. On Sunday alone, Hernández notched four hits, while Betts, Freeman, and Conforto each collected three. Though neither Betts nor Hernández drove in a run in the series finale, their consistent ability to reach base set the table for the team’s big innings. “I think it’s more of going back to and starting with the Colorado series – just better at-bats,” Freeman said. “It’s quality at-bats, quality outs, moving guys over, getting sac flies, bringing defenses in if you move them over. It creates more traffic, more things that are able to happen on the baseball field. I just think the quality of at-bats have been really good over the last week.”
The Dodgers’ patience and execution with runners in scoring position have been especially impressive. Since a frustrating bases-loaded, no-outs situation in Saturday’s game went unrewarded, the club rebounded to go 4-for-6 with nine RBIs in similar scenarios over the next two games. In the two wins over the Giants, they took 37 at-bats with runners in scoring position and hit a robust .351. “I think just intent, quality of at-bat, winning pitches, using the whole field, not punching. I think all those things, you know it’s in there. We’ve seen it. Maybe not with the consistency we would’ve liked,” Roberts said. “But when you’re facing two really good arms (Logan Webb on Saturday and Ray on Sunday), and to see us do what we did tonight, it’s certainly encouraging.”
Behind the plate, Ben Rortvedt has stepped up in the absence of both Will Smith and Dalton Rushing, starting his fourth consecutive game and seventh in the last eight. Known for his defensive prowess, Rortvedt’s receiving and pitch framing have drawn praise from both Baseball Prospectus and Baseball Savant. His impact was felt early, as he turned a tough full-count pitch into a strike to end a lengthy first inning for Glasnow. Rortvedt also contributed at the plate, reaching base three times with two walks and a single. In his brief Dodgers stint, he’s hitting .320 with a .414 on-base percentage.
On the mound, Glasnow overcame early wildness to deliver 6 2/3 effective innings, allowing just one run on three hits and four walks while striking out four. He settled in after the fourth, retiring 11 straight batters at one point. “Not much feel for anything early on. Kind of the whole game, to be honest,” Glasnow admitted. “I think it got better later, though. Just working with Ben (Rortvedt) back there, and I started to find my slider a little bit. … Just compete, try to get in the zone, get some weak contact—it’s helpful.”
As the Dodgers’ offense kept rolling, they tacked on two more runs in the sixth inning thanks to a two-out, two-run single by Miguel Rojas, another in the eighth on Conforto’s third single and RBI, and one more in the ninth on an RBI single from Tommy Edman. Shohei Ohtani, not to be outdone, reached on a pop-fly single and scored his 135th run of the season in the ninth, breaking his own franchise record set last year. He now sits just 13 runs shy of Hub Collins’ all-time Dodgers record from 1890.
With the win, the Dodgers extended their lead over the San Diego Padres in the National League West to 2 1/2 games, with just 13 left to play. Their magic number to clinch the division is down to 10. They also sit 4 1/2 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies for the coveted second seed, which would guarantee a bye into the NLDS. “We want the bye, obviously. And obviously, we’ve played ourselves into this position,” Freeman said. “We’ve got two weeks left, got a big series against them. So hopefully we can continue to keep playing the baseball we’ve been playing and hopefully win the series and keep it going.”
The Dodgers have now taken all three series against the Giants this season, winning two out of three each time. The rivalry resumes soon, with a four-game set at Dodger Stadium looming on the horizon. But first, the Dodgers return home for their final homestand, opening a crucial three-game series against the Phillies on Monday night. Emmet Sheehan is slated to take the mound for Los Angeles, with Ranger Suárez starting for Philadelphia. With playoff positioning and the division title on the line, every game down the stretch promises to be must-watch baseball.
For the Dodgers, the bats are alive, the pitching is steady, and the postseason picture is coming into sharper focus. The next two weeks will determine just how high this talented squad can climb—and whether the momentum built in San Francisco will carry them all the way through October.
