LOS ANGELES — San Francisco Giants manager Tony Vitello called a pregame meeting prior to Tuesday night’s 6-2 win at Dodger Stadium. There were some issues he wanted to address, and with the team in high spirits following two consecutive victories, the timing felt right.

He wanted to talk about the newly constructed roster that suddenly gives the coaching staff more options to substitute and play matchups in the late innings. He wanted to talk about role adjustments and the need for flexibility from rookies and veterans alike. Amid a loose and jovial room, he asked his players “to trust the overall process and the approach we’re trying to take to win games.”

Also, at some point before the meeting adjourned, he politely asked his outfielders to cool it with the pelvic thrusting.

“They’re a close knit group, let’s put it that way,” said Vitello, letting out a laugh when asked about Monday night’s game-ending, body-bumping celebration in center field between Harrison Bader, Drew Gilbert and Jung Hoo Lee that went viral on social media and inspired imitators from at least one other major league team.

For six weeks, the Giants offense was the worst in the major leagues. Now, even after the game is over, their outfielders are figuring out a way to get to second base.

“A lot of the winning teams, their personality comes out,” Vitello said. “Those guys are all pulling it out of each other.”

The good times continued when the Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers met once again. Giants backup catcher and No.9 hitter Eric Haase was the surprise star of the night, poking a fastball from Yoshinobu Yamamoto over the fence for a solo home run in the third inning, going back to back with Bader in the fifth, and expertly receiving Adrian Houser and four relievers in the win over their heated rivals in Chavez Ravine.

Haase also got good wood on a pitch in the seventh inning, driving it to the deepest part of center field, but the ball wasn’t carrying as well in the thicker night air. No matter. The Giants already held a four-run lead at that point and Haase already had achieved a night of firsts for a San Francisco catcher that not even Buster Posey accomplished.

Haase became the first Giants catcher to hit two home runs in a game at Dodger Stadium and the first to accomplish it regardless of venue since Bob Melvin tagged a pair off Fernando Valenzuela on Sept. 22, 1987, at Candlestick Park. Haase had the added distinction of having his big day against Yamamoto, last year’s World Series MVP, who had never allowed multiple home runs to an individual hitter in a major league game.

“I didn’t have that on a bingo card, I’ll tell you that,” Haase said. “I’ve definitely had a lot worse days on a baseball field. So if that’s Giants history, then great.”

Eric Haase has two home runs, and the @SFGiants have a lead! pic.twitter.com/CvZwCl2azO

— MLB (@MLB) May 13, 2026

It’s only natural for the Giants and their fans to use the Dodgers as a measuring stick, which poses a problem when the arch-rivals are doing things like winning consecutive World Series titles and piling up NL West championships and disrupting the free-agent market by snatching up every star player they target. By that measure, the Giants have come up embarrassingly short. It didn’t help that they also appeared dysfunctional on too many nights in April while plunging to the bottom of the division.

But suddenly, after more than a month of getting slapped around, the Giants are playing competitive baseball. They might be one hot week from thrusting themselves back into contention, or at least inserting themselves back into the conversation. They might have overcome some early clubhouse friction, but they appear ready to embrace the grind now.

“I just think the chemistry in the room now is what we were searching for a lot of the season,” Haase said. “You can argue which pieces are to blame for that, but all we know is it’s nice to finally feel that shift of momentum and energy. And to do it in L.A., that’s obviously what we’re going to try to keep building.”

It wouldn’t be fair to assume that Haase was making a reference to Patrick Bailey, the two-time Gold Glove catcher and framing metrics savant whose offensive struggles became difficult to hide amid a lineup that lacked power and patience. But it’s not hard to take attendance and figure out who’s no longer in the room.

With Bailey traded to the Cleveland Guardians, the Giants turned over the position to Haase and rookie Jesus Rodriguez. Fellow rookie and Rule 5 draftee Daniel Susac could be reinstated from the injured list by the end of the week. Because Rodriguez can play second base and outfield, and Haase also can roam an outfield corner, there’s probably a place for three catchers on the roster. Keeping all of them will free up Vitello to use them at any point in a game. Haase’s experience — he’s played parts of nine major league seasons — gives him an element that the Giants otherwise would lack behind the plate. And he offers something at it, too. He runs well and hit 36 home runs over a two-year span in Detroit from 2021-22.

From the day he arrived as a non-roster player in spring training, Haase emerged as a popular presence in all corners of the clubhouse. He’s not the kind of guy who’ll rub people the wrong way.

“He did a lot of the things that you’re wanting to say or do from the dugout — a lot of the directional stuff and the coaching up of the pitcher stuff,” Vitello said of Haase’s contributions Tuesday night. “It was an incredible night offensively. We needed something because we just didn’t have anything cooking, and he did that for us a couple different times.

“He knows the game. He’s a good one to be in the trenches with. … It’s ‘Major League’ all over again. Maybe it’s ‘Major League 4.’ I don’t know how many of those things they made. They were getting pretty bad, so hopefully they stopped. But, you know, it’s Jake Taylor vibes from Haase.”

Haase said he would gladly continue shagging in the outfield to stay ready in case he’s needed to make a spot start or go out there in a double switch. When you’re occupying a backup role, you can’t be choosy about your opportunities. That’s why he tried to simplify things when he stepped in against Yamamoto, who had retired the first eight Giants batters and struck out four of them.

“Just trying to be on time,” Haase said. “It sounds really simple, but with a guy’s heater like that, it’s the first good-looking one you’re trying to put forward. Fortunately I got some good ones over the plate. … When I get my cleats in the dirt, just try to help the team push forward.”

A Houser-Haase battery didn’t roll out the welcome mat and prevented the Dodgers from doing any significant home cooking over 5 2/3 innings, although it helped that they hit a couple of warning-track outs that the ballpark barely contained.

“He pays attention,” Houser said of Haase. “He does his work, and then he’s watching what’s happening in the game. He also knows how we want to attack guys. He’s learning how we approach it, how we go about it. We’re on the same page. He’s adaptable, and he’s quick at doing it.”

The Giants created a bit of action on the base paths in a three-run seventh inning. Gilbert’s safety squeeze scored Heliot Ramos, and after Haase made a deep out, Lee roared with emotion when he split the gap in right-center with a two-run double.

The Giants hadn’t finished off the Dodgers quite yet, though. The Dodgers loaded the bases with one out against Sam Hentges before he struck out Max Muncy on a borderline pitch that the Dodgers inexplicably declined to challenge. Then Caleb Kilian entered, coaxed Andy Pages to fly out to left field, and completed a four-out save.

The outfield celebration was a little more G-rated this time. Gilbert, Lee and Ramos stood in a line and gave a respectful bow from the waist.

“Okay good! I like that,” said Vitello, who had his eyes trained elsewhere when his outfielders converged. “I like that for sure.”

The Giants are 4-1 against the Dodgers, and combined with their two series against the San Diego Padres (3-3), they’ve already equaled last year’s victory total (7-19) against the two teams viewed as the upper class of the NL West.

“I think we bring out the best in every team,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “They haven’t had a good season thus far, but against us, you can see the emotion that they’re playing with. We have to find a way to match that intensity.”

The Giants are still six games under .500, so even if they reach the most satisfying conclusion here and sweep the four-game series, there will be plenty more digging ahead. The next step in front of them: spoiling the Dodgers’ World Series jersey giveaway night and winning again on Wednesday.

Former England boss Eddie Jones has been fined and suspended as head coach of Japan for abusing match officials during an under-23 tour of Australia last month.

The Japanese Rugby Football Union (JRFU) says that because of the “seriousness of the matter” and the contents of their contract with Jones, the 66-year-old has been stood down from his post for six weeks and banned from having any part in the Brave Blossoms’ next four matches.

Jones will miss his team’s opening Nations Championship match against Italy on 4 July, as well as two matches against a Hong Kong China Select side and a warm-up fixture with the Maori All Blacks.

The JRFU added that it had also imposed a salary reduction on Jones.

Jones, 66, said he accepted his punishment and “deeply regretted” his behaviour.

“Some inappropriate remarks that I made caused discomfort to local match officials and other related parties,” the Australian added.

“I would like to offer my sincere apologies to everyone involved.”

Japan’s under-23 team returned from the tour with three wins from four games, including a 38-21 victory over Jones’ old Sydney club side Randwick in their final match.

It is not the first time that Jones, who oversaw the Wallabies’ pool-stage exit from the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France, has been involved in incidents on his return to his home country.

After a series-clinching win over Australia in Sydney in 2022, the then-England boss was twice involved in angry exchanges with fans calling him a “traitor”.

LOS ANGELES — Ice Cube was back in the building, but Tuesday was not a good day for the Los Angeles Dodgers. The iconic rapper’s presence at Dodger Stadium over parts of the last two seasons has usually come as part of a coronation, delivering consecutive World Series trophies to the field as the franchise has crowned a dynasty. This time, he was in the broadcast booth with SportsNet LA for the highlight of what has been a putrid week.

Shohei Ohtani hit his first home run in 52 plate appearances, snapping a spell that has gotten bad enough that manager Dave Roberts preemptively said he will sit the four-time MVP on Thursday and have his bat out of the lineup when he pitches Wednesday, too. Ohtani practically floated as he rounded the bases after taking the San Francisco Giants’ Adrian Houser deep in the third inning, asking for the baseball when he returned to the dugout.

Then the ugliness continued. A 6-2 loss to the Giants marked the Dodgers’ fourth straight, and their first time losing that many in a row by four or more runs since July 1-4, 1936. The losing goes beyond that: Tuesday was their seventh defeat in 11 games this month and 14th in their last 23 games. The club’s recent offensive ineptitude has put a strain on the rest of a talented and well-compensated roster.

“It’s just hard when the margin is thin, and right now it’s just been thin,” Roberts said.

Their lineup looks “clogged up,” hitting coach Robert Van Scoyoc said this week. That remains the case even after their best player finally showed some signs of life. The Dodgers have scored three or fewer runs in 10 of their last 13 games. They managed just one hit after Ohtani’s blast. The night ended with Ohtani pulling yet another ground ball to the right side, which Giants second baseman Luis Arraez dove to secure and throw to first for the final out.

The Dodgers know this will turn. But it looks ugly right now. This has already dragged on far longer than anyone could have expected.

“You don’t want to hear that panic word when guys aren’t hitting, but I do think that there’s a standard on expectations,” Roberts said before the latest offensive dud.

This group entered Tuesday hitting .231/.316/.344 since April 21, producing at a level 10 percent below league average by wRC+. Veterans and staffers have spent recent days trying to reinforce game plans and messages to get their way out of this funk.

“I mean, no one’s freaking out or anything,” said Kyle Tucker.

The outfielder’s addition this winter was supposed to help set a floor for this lineup and insert another in-his-prime slugger to boost baseball’s oldest position player group. Instead, Tucker’s own early-season inconsistency has been just one of several troubling storylines for the Dodgers’ stars.

Ohtani is one of them. The designated hitter, who did not speak to reporters Tuesday, had gone 52 plate appearances and 11 games between home runs before he connected for his solo shot. Getting Ohtani going could free some of the Dodgers’ hitters up. That wasn’t the case Tuesday, but it was a start.

A sweet swing from Shohei Ohtani 🙌 pic.twitter.com/8rh7fWpD8A

— MLB (@MLB) May 13, 2026

The Dodgers have struggled to generate chances. The ones they have created, they’ve squandered. Ohtani led the game off with a ground single through the right side. Freddie Freeman followed two batters later with a single. When Tucker got hit by a pitch to load the bases, the Dodgers had an opportunity to score in the first inning for just the second time in 13 games.

They did push a run across, but left some meat on the bone. Will Smith smoked a sinker at the knees out to right field. The ball looked destined for the gap before Giants right fielder Jung Hoo Lee ran back 63 feet to track it down and keep Smith to a sacrifice fly before Max Muncy popped out to end the inning.

They loaded the bases down by four runs in the eighth, bringing up their two hottest hitters in Muncy and Andy Pages. Muncy struck out looking on a fastball that might have warranted an ABS challenge, and Pages hooked a ball off the end of his bat that Giants left fielder Heliot Ramos ran down to end the frame.

“Certain things like that can really turn a game around,” Tucker said. “But we just haven’t really capitalized on that much lately. So we just need to do a little bit better job at that, just kind of all the way around.”

It’s not the biggest sample, but the Dodgers have come to the plate 46 times this season with the bases loaded and scored 28 runs, which ranks in the bottom half of the league. Their .216 batting average in those spots was 25th in the majors entering Tuesday’s game, and only went down.

“When you’re really not slugging, or you’re not throwing out double-digit hits a night, then the opportunities are few and far between,” Roberts said. “And so that’s where it’s like, our margins, even on the offensive side, are just more finite.”

It does not help that the Giants, owners of baseball’s worst offense at 3.39 runs per game, have made scoring runs look so easy. Yoshinobu Yamamoto surrendered five runs, including three solo shots, to the bottom of a makeshift San Francisco lineup.

All of them were the result of Yamamoto uncharacteristically missing locations. He didn’t have margin for error, even against a team that entered the day having hit the second-fewest home runs in the majors (27).

“It was easy for (the homers) to happen,” Yamamoto said through interpreter Yoshihiro Sonoda.

Two of those homers came from Eric Haase, the Giants’ backup catcher and No. 9 hitter, who matched his 2025 total in one game against last year’s World Series MVP.

With the Dodgers swinging the bats the way they are lately and things like that happen, it’s hard to have a good day.