Even after losing Sunday to their freeway rivals, the Los Angeles Angels, the Los Angeles Dodgers went into a three-game series in San Francisco with the best record in the National League at 43-30, mostly on the strength of a pitching staff that had allowed the third-fewest runs in the NL.

Some of that must have rubbed off on the San Francisco Giants during the just-completed three-game series between the Dodgers and Giants in San Francisco, because the Giants shut out the Dodgers in all three games, winning 8-0, 2-0 and 3-0. The dominance of the San Francisco pitching staff was so complete that the Dodgers had just 16 hits over the three games -- 13 of them singles, and the only Dodger baserunner who reached third base in the series was pitcher Chad Billingsley (who wound up getting thrown out when he tried to score on a wild pitch).

How rare is such an event? At least for the Dodger franchise, extremely rare:

Turns out it's the first time Dodgers have been shut out in a three-game series since 1937 against the Boston Braves.

— DKnobler (@DKnobler) June 27, 2012

That long-ago Dodger team lost 91 games and finished sixth in an eight-team league. This year's Dodgers were cruising in the NL West, with a five-game lead just 10 days ago.

After Wednesday's game, the Giants and Dodgers are now tied at 43-33. Should be a fun summer in the NL West.