Giants Complete Shutout Sweep of Dodgers

Dodgers pitcher Chad Billingsley is tagged out by Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum while trying to score on a wild pitch. (Jeff Chiu)

A month ago, the Los Angeles Dodgers had a season-high 7 1/2 game lead over the San Francisco Giants in the NL West. However, the Dodgers came into this week's series in San Francisco scuttling quite a bit. They hoped to simply hold onto their dwindling divisional lead. The Giants had other plans. They hoped to use their momentum to show that this division was going to be a race to the end. The Giants certainly had their way when it came to this series.

In Monday's series opener, the Giants offense wasted little time as they exploded for seven runs in the first two innings (8 ER total) off Dodgers starting pitcher Nate Eovaldi. That was more than enough for Giants starter Barry Zito. Zito rebounded from a string of poor outings to throw seven scoreless innings of three hit ball against the Dodgers. The Giants finished off the beatdown of the Dodgers for an 8-0 win.

The Dodgers looked to get revenge in Tuesday's game with ace Clayton Kershaw. The Giants countered with a great, young pitcher in Ryan Vogelsong. This one turned out to be a good old classic pitcher's dual. Both pitchers were attacking the strike zone and getting outs. The Giants did finally get to Kershaw in the fourth. Melky Cabrera led off the inning with a solo shot to left. Angel Pagan hit into a fielder's choice and then stole second base. Pablo Sandoval singled home Pagan to give the Giants the 2-0 lead. That was it for the Giants offense, and it turned out that the Dodgers offense never did get going. Vogelsong completed seven scoreless innings. In the ninth inning, Santiago Casilla closed out the 2-0 win for his 21st save of the season.

The Dodgers hoped to avoid the sweep Wednesday afternoon. They sought to get back on track with starter Chad Billingsley on the mound. The Dodgers banked on another poor outing my Giants starting pitcher Tim Lincecum to help jump start their offense. However, it was the Giants offense who struck first. Cabrera had a RBI double in the third inning. Pagan also added a pair of RBIs. Meanwhile, Lincecum showcased some of his vintage form. Billingsley did manage a double off his counterpart. He advanced to third on a wild pitch. On another wild pitch by Lincecum, Billingsley tried to score, but was blocked and tagged out by Lincecum. Lincecum went seven scoreless innings and was rewarded with his first win in nearly two months. Sergio Romo sealed the sweep of the Dodgers with a four-out save of the 3-0 win.

The Giants sweep has propelled them into first place. Their pitching was dominant in the shutout sweep. Not only did the Dodgers not score a single run in the series, Billingsley was the only Dodgers player to reach third base. As if news couldn't get any worse for the Dodgers, Matt Kemp does not appear to be ready to return from the DL anytime soon. Additionally, fellow outfielder Andre Ethier injured his oblique and could be joining Kemp on the DL soon. With their two best hitters injured, things don't look any better for the Dodgers anytime soon. Meanwhile, the Giants are enjoying their hot play and look to use it to their full advantage.