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Dodgers get swept by Giants, score exactly zero runs in three games

When the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers tangle, the baseball is usually a little bit different, a little more intense. They're the biggest rivals on the West Coast and they manage to give even early-season games a September feel.

What happened to the Dodgers this week was another type of different: They were swept by the Giants in three games and didn't score a single run. Oof. The sweep concluded Thursday, with the Giants winning 4-0 in a battle of the aces — Madison Bumgarner vs. Clayton Kershaw.

An example of how right things were going for the Giants and how wrong they were for the Dodgers: Bumgarner put the Giants on the board with a solo homer off Kershaw in the third inning. It was the first time another pitcher has ever homered off Kershaw.

[Woah, The Stew has a podcast now?! Yep, you should listen.]

(AP)
(AP)

The Dodgers, mind you, haven't been an offense-challenged team. They're second in MLB in homers, tops in OPS and fourth in runs scored. L.A. had the second best record in the NL before the series and they're 24-16 now after three straight losses — there was another 4-0 defeat Wednesday and a 2-0 loss Tuesday.

The sky isn't exactly falling on the Dodgers. They're still in first place in the NL West, leading the Giants by a game and a half. But things haven't been great lately. L.A. now hasn't scored in 31 innings, and they've scored a grand total of two runs in their last five games, one of which was a 1-0 win over the Colorado Rockies.

For the Giants, a team that started slow and battled injuries, this has to be a confidence builder. They've got Hunter Pence back now and Tim Lincecum pitching well again (he threw seven scoreless innings Wednesday) and they're having their way with their rivals. They've played the Dodgers six times this season at AT&T Park and are 6-0.

[ThePostGame: The key moment in building golden era of Giants baseball]

If you're wondering how rare a series shutout is, well, it's rare — MLB teams don't go through 27-inning droughts on a weekly basis — but it hasn't been years and years since we've seen this. Oddly enough, the Giants shutout the Dodgers three straight games in June 2012.

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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!