SAN FRANCISCO —
Eleven months ago, the Dodgers and San Francisco Giants looked like two franchises headed in somewhat different directions.
In June, a surging Giants team came to Dodger Stadium, swept a three-game series in dominant fashion, and jumped their intradivison rivals in the National League West — marking the clear nadir of the Dodgers’ slow start to 2023.
A year later, the clubs are still seemingly headed in opposite directions.
Only now, it’s the Dodgers who are cruising with a big division lead, and the Giants struggling to gain any traction, in danger of suffering through yet another wasted year in the shadow of their Southern California counterparts.