LOS ANGELES — Casey Schmitt admired his work for half a second.
Schmitt didn’t need to watch the ball soar through the night. Nor did he need to see it land halfway up the left-field bleachers. Schmitt, instead, stared at the faces in his dugout — a dugout he ignited with his first career grand slam.
It wasn’t just a swing that shocked ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Dodger Stadium’s announced attendance of 53,022. It wasn’t just a swing that headlined the Giants’ three homers on Friday night as they beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 6-2. It was a swing that propelled San Francisco into a tie with Los Angeles at the top of the NL West.
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Before Schmitt’s display of power, the Giants set the table with a display of patience.
Jung Hoo Lee began the top of the third by drawing a six-pitch walk. Two batters later, Heliot Ramos walked to put runners at first and second with one out. Two more batters later, Wilmer Flores walked with two outs to load the bases.
The walks were free. The homer was earned.
Yamamoto tossed Schmitt a 1-1 splitter; Schmitt sent the offering towards Glendale. Schmitt’s grand slam wasn’t just his second home run of the season, but his second home run since stepping in for Matt Chapman, who will be on the injured list for several weeks due to right hand inflammation.
“I think he’s in a good spot,” Chapman said pregame. “The way he’s swinging the bat, I think he’s going to really start to come into his own offensively.”
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The same can be said of shortstop Willy Adames, whose own bat is finding life.
In his first at-bat at part of the rivalry, Adames got the Giants on the board in the first inning with a towering opposite-field home run. The blast didn’t just represent his eighth homer of the season but his third of the road trip. Over his last four games, Adames has raised his OPS from .584 to .635 — still below average, but trending upwards.
The home runs from Schmitt, Adames and Andrew Kninzer — a solo shot in the eighth — elicited thousands of groans on Friday night. So, too, did Logan Webb, who turned in another standard night: seven innings, two runs. Webb entered the day with his ERA at 2.58, and he ends his day with his ERA still at 2.58.
