Giants avert sweep by Nationals in clash of titans

More than two months will pass before the Giants see the Nationals again in Washington. The baseball landscape will change often before then, some teams rising and others falling. Injuries, fate and performance will make the standings look different than they do now.

There is no way in mid-June to divine whether that three-game series at Nationals Park will pit the two best teams in the National League. Then again, who would bet against it?

In a four-game series that ended Thursday with the Giants finally winning, 7-1 behind a dominant Tim Hudson, the Nationals staked their claim as the NL's top dog by taking three of four from a San Francisco team that spent the past two months cobbling the majors' best record.

Moreover, the Nationals did it without one of the league's best hitters, Bryce Harper, who is expected to return from a thumb injury next month.

http://www.sfgate.com/giants/article/Giants-top-Nationals-to-avoid-a-1st-at-China-Basin-5548987.php