Dodgers have a weekend to remember, sweeping Giants with 4-3 win

Is this it?

Well, of course, it might be.

Are the Dodgers ready to play as advertised, to seize the division, to string together more than three consecutive wins, to play like a team with a record payroll?

Hey, it just could be happening.

The Dodgers completed their most impressive series of the season Sunday, edging the Giants, 4-3, to sweep the three-game series at AT&T Park.

They came to San Francisco trailing the Giants by 1½ games and left with a 1½-game lead in the National League West.

It wasn’t just the winning, however, but the way they did it. They won the first two games with Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw throwing only scoreless innings in easy victories.

They won the only tight game of the series Sunday with Hyun-Jin Ryu pitching well enough and the Giants helping the L.A. cause, mostly via their two new players, second baseman Dan Uggla and starting pitcher Jake Peavy.

The Dodgers have flirted at other times this season with being that much-ballyhooed team, only to stumble. So no one in blue is going to suffer a bout of overconfidence. Still, they were a very focused-looking team in San Francisco.

The Giants took leads of 1-0 and 2-1, but at no time did the Dodgers appear to act like they were not going to find a way to win.

Ryu (12-5) went six innings, allowing three runs and six hits, walking one and striking out seven.

The Giants opened the scoring with a run in the third when Ryu issued his only walk, to Uggla, who went to third on a single by Gregor Blanco and scored on a Hunter Pence base hit.

The Dodgers tied it with a gift run in the fourth after Uggla let a routine bouncer from Hanley Ramirez go between his legs for an error. Carl Crawford sent a potential double-play bouncer to shortstop Brandon Crawford, but Uggla was slow turning it and Crawford beat the relay to first.

A Matt Kemp single moved Crawford to second, and when Juan Uribe sent a single in front of left fielder Michael Morse, third-base coach Lorenzo Bundy waved Crawford home and he beat the throw.

Singles by Morse, Adam Duvall and Brandon Crawford in the bottom of the inning put the Giants back up by a run, but the Dodgers scored three times in the fifth, the Giants returning to their giving ways.

Dee Gordon struck out on a Peavy wild pitch that got away from Buster Posey and was safe at first. Yasiel Puig walked and then Peavy unleashed a second wild pitch, advancing the runners to second and third.

Adrian Gonzalez struck out swinging at a pitch that bounced, and Posey had to throw to first to record the out. Trouble was, he failed to look Gordon back to third. As soon as Posey released the ball, Gordon broke for home and easily beat the return throw from first baseman Duvall.

Ramirez singled up the middle to score Puig for a 3-2 Dodgers lead, and Crawford tripled into the right-field corner to score Ramirez and make it 4-2.

Posey’s home run in the bottom of the inning got one back, but that was the end of any Giants comeback bid. J.P. Howell threw a scoreless seventh, ex-Giant Brian Wilson – greeted by loud boos – threw a scoreless eighth and Kenley Jansen struck out the side in a 1-2-3 ninth to earn his 30th save.

And for one weekend, the Dodgers were looking like a very serious team.