twins/mlb

Final Score: San Francisco 5, Los Angeles 2

San Francisco, CA (Sports Network) - Marco Scutaro slapped a go-ahead, two-run single in the bottom of the seventh inning, lifting the NL West-leading San Francisco Giants to a 5-2 triumph over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the opener of a pivotal three-game set at AT&T Park.

Angel Pagan registered three hits, an RBI and a run scored, while Brandon Crawford scored twice for the Giants, who have won four straight against the Dodgers and extended their NL West lead to 5 1/2 games over LA.

Santiago Casilla (7-5) earned the victory for recording the final two outs of the seventh inning in relief of starter Tim Lincecum, who allowed two runs on four hits and a career-high seven walks.

"It started with Timmy and the great job he did," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said of his starter. "He did a terrific job tonight and once we got some guys on base we had some timely hits."

Josh Beckett (1-2) was tagged with the loss after giving up four runs on seven hits and three walks over 6 1/3 innings, while Adam Kennedy clubbed a solo shot in the setback, the Dodgers' third in a row.

"I gotta pitch better," Beckett admitted. "They didn't bring me over here to pitch okay, they brought me over here to pitch good and that's what I need to do."

Lincecum struck out seven, but allowed a leadoff single to Mark Ellis and a one-out walk to Adrian Gonzalez in the seventh to mark the end of his outing.

Casilla then cleaned up the mess by grounding out Matt Kemp and striking out Hanley Ramirez before the Giants broke the tie in the bottom half.

Hector Sanchez singled to start the frame and was replaced by pinch-runner Gregor Blanco, who quickly swiped second. Crawford then worked a walk before Emmanuel Burriss' bunt put runners at second and third with one out.

Pagan was then intentionally walked and Scutaro followed with a looping single into shallow right field to score Blanco and Crawford for a 4-2 lead.

An intentional walk to Pablo Sandoval loaded the bases, but Brandon League fanned Buster Posey and grounded out Hunter Pence to end the seventh.

Jeremy Affeldt and Sergio Romo then combined for a scoreless eighth, before Joaquin Arias' infield base hit in the bottom half scored Brandon Belt, who singled to start the inning, to make it a three-run difference.

Romo then retired the Dodgers in order in the ninth to record his 10th save of the season.

The Dodgers struck first on an RBI groundout from Kemp in the third inning, but the Giants answered in the bottom half, as Crawford blooped a one-out single into shallow left field for the home team's first hit.

Crawford moved to second on Lincecum's bunt before coming around to score on Pagan's two-out base hit to right field to knot the game at 1-1.

Kennedy's solo blast in the sixth gave LA a one-run lead, but San Francisco responded once again in the bottom half, as Pagan led off with a bunt single, stole second two batters later and then moved to third on Sandoval's groundout.

After Posey walked, Pence slapped a two-out single down the third-base line that Kennedy was unable to barehand, allowing Pagan to score the game-tying run.

Game Notes

The Dodgers are 5-8 since acquiring Beckett, Gonzalez and Carl Crawford from the Boston Red Sox on Aug. 25 ... It's the first time the Giants have been as many as 5 1/2 games ahead in the division since a 15 1/5 game lead at the conclusion of the 2003 regular season ... The Dodgers recalled infielder/outfielder Alex Castellanos from Triple-A Albuquerque before the game ... LA's 2-through-5 hitters combined to go 0-for-20.