San Francisco Giants vs Dodgers match player stats tell a bigger story than any single box score, because these two National League West rivals have been trading wins since 1890. The 2026 season added another chapter when the Dodgers swept a three game series from the Giants in September, and the numbers from that series, along with each team’s full season hitting leaders, show exactly where these two clubs stand right now. This article walks through the recent head to head results, the top players carrying each lineup, and the standings picture heading into the final stretch of the season, all pulled from official team stat pages and game recaps.
How Long Have the Giants and Dodgers Been Rivals?
The Giants and Dodgers have been rivals since May 3, 1890, when the clubs first met as the New York Giants and the Brooklyn Bridegrooms, the team that would later become the Dodgers. For nearly seventy years the two clubs shared New York City, and the Giants held the edge during that stretch, winning 722 games to the Dodgers’ 671, with 17 ties. Everything changed after the 1957 season, when Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley moved his team to Los Angeles and convinced Giants owner Horace Stoneham to bring his club to San Francisco instead of Minnesota, which is the only reason this rivalry survived the move west at all.
Since 1958, the two teams have played as California rivals, and the West Coast era has produced some of the sport’s most memorable moments. The 1951 pennant race, capped by Bobby Thomson’s Shot Heard Round the World home run for the Giants, still ranks among the greatest finishes in baseball history, even though it happened while both teams were still in New York. In 1965, Giants pitcher Juan Marichal struck Dodgers catcher John Roseboro with his bat during a game at Candlestick Park, an incident that defined the rivalry’s intensity for a generation before the two men later became friends. That mix of history, geography, and genuine dislike between Bay Area and Los Angeles fans is what still fuels every Giants and Dodgers series today.
What Is the All Time Head to Head Record Between the Giants and Dodgers?
The all time regular season record between the Giants and Dodgers sat at 1,292 wins apiece, with 17 ties, heading into their September 2026 series, making this one of the most evenly matched rivalries in American professional sports. Since the franchises moved to California, the Dodgers had actually held a small edge, going 620 and 570 against the Giants, while the Giants’ advantage came almost entirely from their decades in New York. After Los Angeles completed its three game sweep of San Francisco on September 20, the Dodgers moved ahead in the all time series for the first time in years, improving to roughly 1,294 wins against 1,292 for the Giants, with 19 ties on the books.
In the postseason, the picture leans more clearly toward Los Angeles. The Dodgers hold a 3 to 2 edge in playoff meetings between the two clubs, though the franchises have only actually faced each other once since moving west, in the 2021 National League Division Series, which Los Angeles won. That scarcity of playoff meetings is part of what makes the regular season series so meaningful to both fan bases every single year.
How Did the Giants and Dodgers Match Up During the 2026 Season?
The Giants and Dodgers played four separate series against each other during the 2026 regular season, and the results swung back and forth before Los Angeles pulled away late. San Francisco won the first meeting of the year, taking two of three games at home from April 21 through April 23. That series included a rare piece of franchise history, an inside the park home run from Jung Hoo Lee at Dodger Stadium in a later meeting, believed to be the first inside the park homer by a Giant at Dodger Stadium and the first anywhere in the rivalry in 45 years.
The two clubs then split their May series on the road in Los Angeles, each team winning two of four games, which kept the season series close through the midpoint of the year. Everything shifted in September, when the Dodgers swept all three games from the Giants to close out the season series with the edge. Taken together, the 2026 season series is a reminder that this rivalry rarely stays one sided for long, even in years when the two teams are headed toward very different outcomes.
What Happened in the September 2026 Dodgers vs Giants Series?
The Dodgers completed a three game sweep of the Giants from September 18 through September 20, 2026, their first sweep of San Francisco since April 2024. Los Angeles took the opener 8 runs to 2, behind a strong start from Tyler Glasnow, who worked into the sixth inning and struck out ten Giants hitters. Mookie Betts carried the offense that night with three hits, two home runs, and three RBI, while Kyle Tucker added two hits and a home run of his own, and Will Smith and Max Muncy each chipped in a home run and an RBI. Jung Hoo Lee answered for San Francisco with a solo home run, one of the lone bright spots in an otherwise quiet night for the Giants offense.
Los Angeles kept rolling in game two, winning 10 runs to 4 to take a commanding lead in the series. The Giants pushed back briefly but could not slow down a Dodgers lineup that has been one of the most productive in baseball all season.
The finale on September 20 turned into the tightest game of the series. San Francisco led for most of the afternoon before Tommy Edman tied things with a solo home run in the sixth inning, and Los Angeles broke through against the Giants bullpen in the seventh, when Max Muncy and Kiké Hernández each drove in a go ahead run. On the mound, reliever Emmet Sheehan turned in the standout performance of the series, allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out nine batters across five and one third scoreless innings after opener Jack Dreyer got the start. The bullpen trio of Kris Bubic, Brock Stewart, and closer Tanner Scott shut the door from there, sealing a 3 to 1 win and the sweep. The victory extended the Dodgers’ hot streak to 14 wins in their last 17 games and pulled them within a magic number of three games to clinch a bye in the first round of the postseason.
Who Leads the Dodgers in Hitting This Season?
Shohei Ohtani leads the Dodgers in nearly every meaningful offense category this season, batting .277 with 30 home runs, 80 RBI, and a .902 OPS, easily the best mark on the roster. Freddie Freeman has been the team’s most consistent contact hitter, hitting .290 with 16 home runs and 67 RBI, while Max Muncy has provided the most raw power behind Ohtani, launching 29 home runs to go with a .254 average and an .851 OPS. Kyle Tucker, in his first season in Los Angeles after signing a four year, 240 million dollar contract, has added 17 home runs and a team high 70 RBI, and Mookie Betts has chipped in 22 home runs and a .261 average from the top of the order.
| Player | AVG | HR | RBI | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shohei Ohtani | .277 | 30 | 80 | .902 |
| Max Muncy | .254 | 29 | 75 | .851 |
| Freddie Freeman | .290 | 16 | 67 | .805 |
| Andy Pages | .272 | 21 | 80 | .796 |
| Kyle Tucker | .235 | 17 | 70 | .728 |
| Mookie Betts | .261 | 22 | 67 | .785 |
| Will Smith | .249 | 9 | 33 | .756 |
Figures reflect regular season totals through late September 2026, according to Fox Sports team statistics.
Who Leads the Giants in Hitting This Season?
Rafael Devers has been the Giants’ clear power source in his first full season in San Francisco, hitting .258 with a team leading 37 home runs and 98 RBI, and an .865 OPS that ranks among the best on the roster. Luis Arraez has taken the opposite approach and still produced elite results, leading the team with a .324 batting average built on contact rather than power. Jung Hoo Lee has quietly put together a strong all around season, hitting .276 with 10 home runs and 57 RBI, while Casey Schmitt has emerged as a surprise source of pop with 21 home runs, and Bryce Eldridge has posted the second best OPS on the team at .825.
| Player | AVG | HR | RBI | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luis Arraez | .324 | 4 | 43 | .800 |
| Rafael Devers | .258 | 37 | 98 | .865 |
| Bryce Eldridge | .269 | 17 | 57 | .825 |
| Casey Schmitt | .271 | 21 | 55 | .784 |
| Jung Hoo Lee | .276 | 10 | 57 | .724 |
| Willy Adames | .230 | 21 | 51 | .713 |
| Matt Chapman | .235 | 7 | 42 | .692 |
Figures reflect regular season totals through late September 2026, according to Fox Sports team statistics.
How Do the Two Teams Compare in the Standings and Playoff Race?
The Dodgers have already clinched their division this season, wrapping up their 13th NL West title in the last 14 seasons, and they enter the final weeks chasing the best overall record in the National League, a race they trail behind the Milwaukee Brewers. Los Angeles is coming off back to back World Series titles in 2024 and 2025 and is now pushing for a third straight championship, a run that has made every remaining game meaningful for playoff seeding purposes.
San Francisco, by contrast, has already been eliminated from playoff contention this season and is playing out the schedule with an eye toward next year. That does not mean these late season games lack stakes for the Giants, though. San Francisco has a long track record of playing its best baseball against Los Angeles regardless of the standings, and beyond the win column, players on both sides know that every game against their oldest rival carries extra weight with the fan base, whether or not October is on the line. The Giants have not won a World Series since 2014, which only adds to the motivation to spoil the Dodgers’ pursuit of history whenever the two teams meet.
Why Does This Rivalry Matter Beyond the Numbers?
The Giants and Dodgers rivalry is often called the greatest in American sports because it combines three ingredients that few other matchups can match: longevity, genuine geographic tension, and remarkably even competition. The rivalry has lasted more than 130 years and survived a cross country relocation without losing any of its edge, something almost no other pro sports rivalry can claim. The animosity between Los Angeles and San Francisco extends well beyond baseball, touching on decades of economic, cultural, and political rivalry between the two cities, and that tension shows up clearly in how fans treat every Giants and Dodgers series.
Attendance figures back this up in a striking way. During a single series in 1991, the Giants drew more than 150,000 fans across just three games, nearly a tenth of their entire home attendance for that season. Forbes named this matchup the most intense rivalry in baseball back in 2009, citing the premium prices fans were willing to pay just to watch these two teams play a regular season game. Add in the near dead even all time record, and it becomes clear why neither fan base ever treats a Giants and Dodgers game as just another game on the schedule, even in a season like 2026 when the two teams are headed toward very different Octobers.
Conclusion
The San Francisco Giants vs Dodgers match player stats from the 2026 season show a Dodgers team loaded with star power at the top of the lineup and a Giants team leaning on a strong core of Rafael Devers, Luis Arraez, and Jung Hoo Lee even without a playoff spot to play for. The September sweep pushed Los Angeles back ahead in the all time series and kept the Dodgers rolling toward the postseason, while San Francisco continues to look for answers heading into next year. With the two teams still scheduled to meet again in late September at Oracle Park, there is a good chance this rivalry adds one more chapter before the 2026 season is finished, and given the history between these two clubs, it would not be a surprise if the Giants had something to say about it.
FAQs
What is the all time head to head record between the Giants and Dodgers?
The two teams entered their September 2026 series tied at 1,292 wins apiece with 17 ties, one of the closest all time records in professional sports. After the Dodgers swept that series, Los Angeles moved slightly ahead in the overall series for the first time in several years.
Who swept the September 2026 Dodgers vs Giants series?
The Los Angeles Dodgers swept the three game series, winning by scores of 8 to 2, 10 to 4, and 3 to 1 between September 18 and September 20. It marked their first sweep of the Giants since April 2024 and extended their winning streak heading into the postseason.
Who leads the Dodgers in home runs this season?
Shohei Ohtani leads the Dodgers with 30 home runs, paired with a .277 batting average and a team best .902 OPS. Max Muncy is right behind him with 29 home runs, giving Los Angeles two of the most productive power hitters in the National League.
Who leads the Giants in batting average this season?
Luis Arraez leads the Giants with a .324 batting average, the best mark on the roster by a wide margin. Rafael Devers leads the team in power numbers, hitting 37 home runs with 98 RBI in his first full season in San Francisco.
When do the Giants and Dodgers play next?
The Giants and Dodgers are scheduled to meet again in late September at Oracle Park in San Francisco, closing out the regular season series. Given how competitive this rivalry has been all year, that series could still affect playoff seeding for the Dodgers.
