The Los Angeles Dodgers were in a free fall. The team’s offense had stalled out during a brutal seven-game losing streak. The Dodgers were in danger of losing their stranglehold on the NL West if their losing ways continued during a three-game series against the second-place San Francisco Giants.

Fortunately for Dodgers fans, the team finally ended its skid on Saturday. Los Angeles got three scoreless innings from Shohei Ohtani and the bullpen allowed just one run the rest of the way as the Dodgers got the 2-1 victory over San Francisco, per MLB.

Dodgers snap losing skid in big divisional matchup

Jul 12, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Shohei Ohtani (17) throws a pitch against the San Francisco Giants during the first inning at Oracle Park.
Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Ohtani started for the fifth time this season and looked dominant against the Giants. Los Angeles has been very cautious with the three-time MVP since he returned to the mound after missing nearly two years while recovering from surgery.

The Dodgers limited Ohtani to one inning in each of his first two starts. They bumped him up to two innings for his next two outings and on Saturday Ohtani went three innings for the first time since August 9, 2023.

The five-time All-Star allowed one hit and one walk with four strikeouts in three scoreless frames. He now has a 1.00 ERA, 0.78 WHIP and 10 strikeouts in nine innings this season.

However, after crushing his NL-leading 32nd home run in the series opener against the Giants, Ohtani had a quiet day at the plate on Saturday. San Francisco gave up just one earned run and the bottom of the Dodgers’ order led the way as Tommy Edman and Hyeseong Kim collected LA's two RBI.

Nonetheless, the Dodgers will take it. The team snapped an ugly seven-game losing streak with the 2-1 win in San Francisco. Los Angeles had a nine-game advantage in the division on July 3. But after losing to the Giants Friday, the Dodgers’ lead was down to four games.

Following back-to-back series sweeps to the Houston Astros and the Milwaukee Brewers, Los Angeles will look to get back on track in the rubber match against the Giants on Sunday. The Dodgers could bump their division lead up to six games with a win in the final game before the All-Star break.

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