Giants 6, Dodgers 2
SAN FRANCISCO -- San Francisco Giants right-hander Tim Lincecum recorded his first win as a starting pitcher since last August, limiting the Los Angeles Dodgers to one run over six innings in a 6-2 victory Tuesday night.
Rookie right fielder Justin Maxwell homered, tripled, scored three runs, drove in two and made a sensational sliding catch for the Giants, who won for just the second time in their last 11 games in the opener of a three-game series between National League West rivals.
The loss snapped the Dodgers' seven-game winning streak and dropped them into a tie with the San Diego Padres atop the division.
Game 2 of the series Wednesday night features a historic matchup of left-handed aces Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers and Madison Bumgarner of the Giants in the first-ever pitching duel between a reigning National League Cy Young Award winner and a reigning World Series Most Valuable Player.
The Dodgers arrived in San Francisco having scored at least five runs in seven consecutive games, but managed just two against Lincecum (1-1) and five Giants relievers despite the aid of six walks.
L.A. also had seven hits -- all but two off Lincecum -- but hurt themselves by hitting into four double plays.
Lincecum gave up three of the walks, but successfully pitched around the eight baserunners, permitting only a fifth-inning run after the Giants had provided him a 4-0 lead.
San Francisco had totaled only 21 runs in its previous 11 games.
Before Maxwell's first career home run, a two-run shot off Dodgers right-handed reliever Pedro Baez in the eighth inning, the Giants had used small ball to get the better of L.A. lefty starter Brett Anderson, who had been unbeaten in two starts since joining the club in the offseason.
Shortstop Brandon Crawford's two-out drag bunt scored Maxwell, who had tripled, to open the scoring in the second inning, and infield singles by second baseman Joe Panik and center fielder Angel Pagan set up an RBI single by first baseman Buster Posey in the third.
The Giants doubled their lead in the fourth when, with runners on second and third and two outs, Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez fielded Giants left fielder Nori Aoki's slow roller and threw wildly past Anderson, who was slow to cover first base. The hit and error allowed two runs to score, including Crawford, who had doubled.
Maxwell, Crawford, Pagan, Posey, Aoki and catcher Andrew Susac all had two hits for San Francisco, whose run total matched its season high. The Giants outhit the Dodgers 13-7.
Right fielder Yasiel Puig, who had missed four of L.A.'s previous five games with a sore left hamstring, had two of the Dodgers' seven hits.
Puig was denied an opportunity for a third hit when Maxwell slid into foul ground to catch his fly ball with two on and one out in the eighth inning. Puig represented the tying run at the time in his at-bat against the Giants' third pitcher, right-hander Sergio Romo.
Right-hander Santiago Casilla, who inherited a bases-loaded, two-out jam in the ninth with a 6-1 lead, uncorked a run-scoring wild pitch before retiring Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner on a grounder to second baseman Panik to end the game and earn his fifth save.
Anderson left for a pinch hitter in the top of the fifth after allowing four runs (three earned) on nine hits in four innings. He struck out one and did not walk a batter.
The left-hander didn't pitch as poorly as his numbers would indicate. The Giants' runs against him were the result of a bunt in the second inning, a single that followed two infield hits in the third, and a two-out chopper to the first baseman that produced two runs in the fourth.
Alex Guerrero, the pinch hitter for Anderson, ended Lincecum's shutout bid in the fifth with a two-out RBI double. The hit scored third baseman Juan Uribe, who also doubled, and pulled Los Angeles within 4-1.
NOTES: Wednesday's matchup of Dodgers LHP Clayton Kershaw and Giants LHP Madison Bumgarner will be their fourth head-to-head duel overall and first since Sept. 13, 2013. The visitor prevailed all three previous times, with Bumgarner holding a 2-1 edge ... Neither team announced a starting pitcher for Thursday afternoon's series finale. Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said his club will dip into the minors to promote its starter, with RHP Mike Bolsinger, the reigning Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Week, the leading candidate. Giants manager Bruce Bochy wanted to see if he needed RHP Ryan Vogelsong or RHP Yusmeiro Petit in relief Tuesday or Wednesday before picking between them. ... San Francisco RF Hunter Pence (broken left arm) did
some hitting off a batting tee Tuesday, but he won't be ready to return by May 1, Bochy said. ... The Dodgers brought OF Chris Heisey with them to San Francisco, but he was not added to the 25-man roster. Heisey said he was told he will be activated for Wednesday's game.