Giants beat Dodgers 8-5 to stay in playoff race

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LOS ANGELES (AP) - Justin Christian had three hits and drove in three runs - all with two outs - and the San Francisco Giants beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 8-5 Wednesday night to keep their slim NL West playoff hopes alive.

Any combination of two Arizona wins and/or Giants' losses would eliminate the defending World Series champions.

Los Angeles had its four-game winning streak ended as it dropped back to .500.

Ryan Vogelsong (12-7) allowed four runs and nine hits in five innings, struck out three and walked one in extending his career-high victory total. The All-Star right-hander has gone 3-6 in his last nine starts after being 9-1 through his first 20 games.

After giving up an RBI single to James Loney in the ninth, Brian Wilson earned his 36th save in 41 chances, and his first since Aug. 13 after a stint on the disabled list.

Brett Pill went 3 for 5 with two RBIs for the Giants, who had their season-high eight-game winning streak snapped in the series opener Tuesday, but have won 11 of 15.

The Giants scored three runs with two outs in the first on RBI singles by Pill and Mike Fontenot. Christian's two-run double with two outs in the fourth increased their lead to 5-0.

The Dodgers got to 5-4 in the fifth on Jamey Carroll's RBI single and Matt Kemp's three-run homer.

Bolstering his bid for the NL MVP award, Kemp hit his 35th homer to tie Atlanta's Dan Uggla for second in the league. Kemp overtook Philadelphia's Ryan Howard for the league lead in RBIs with 116 and he surpassed Milwaukee's Ryan Braun for the runs lead with 106. He singled in the ninth for his 183rd hit.

Dana Eveland (2-2) gave up five runs and six hits in four innings, struck out one and walked three in his fourth start for the Dodgers this season. The left-hander fell to 3-1 in his career against the Giants after having blanked them for seven innings of a 3-0 win on Sept. 10.

San Francisco extended its lead to 6-4 with two outs in the sixth on Christian's RBI single. The Giants added two runs in the seventh on Pill's RBI double and a sacrifice fly by Mark DeRosa.

NOTES: Giants RF Carlos Beltran left the game with a right foot contusion after being hit by a pitch in the third. He doubled in the first to extend his hitting streak to nine games. ... Vogelsong improved to 6-1 on the road this season. ... Kemp's homer was the 94th given up by the Giants this season, fewest in the majors. ... Dodgers SS Dee Gordon extended his hitting streak to eight games with a single in the first, while RF Jerry Sands' streak extended to nine games with a single in the eighth.

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