Hennessey's relief helps Giants hang on to beat Dodgers

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Felipe Alou used what appeared at the time to be a quick hook on rookie right-hander Matt Cain.

Turned out the San Francisco Giants' manager knew exactly what he was doing.

Reliever Brad Hennessey worked out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam to trigger a terrific performance by the bullpen, and the Giants held on to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-4 Thursday night.

With the Giants leading 5-2 in the fifth, the Dodgers loaded the bases against Cain on a bloop single, a hit batsman and an infield hit. That's when Hennessey came on, and he induced Ramon Martinez to ground into a double play, with a run scoring.

Hennessey (4-1) retired the side without further damage and wound up allowing one hit and one run in three innings before Jeremy Accardo pitched a perfect eighth and Armando Benitez worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his ninth save in 13 chances.

"He's been doing that quite often here," Alou said of Hennessey, who has started six games and relieved in 10 this season. "That's one of the reasons he's a reliever. When we have a shipwreck, he's there."

Cain, who has won five of his last six decisions, had thrown 87 pitches when Alou took him out.

"You've just got to limit the damage right there, come in and get a double play ball," Hennessey said. "I feel good about my sinker to try and do that. I've been in Matt's situation -- high pitch count -- many times."

Pedro Feliz had three hits and drove in two runs, and Moises Alou had two hits, scored twice and had an RBI in his first game off the disabled list.

"No pain, good feeling," said Alou, who had been sidelined since June 18 with a sprained lower back.

Feliz hit a run-scoring single in a three-run first inning and an RBI grounder in a two-run third to help the Giants take a 5-0 lead against Mark Hendrickson (0-2).

Giants slugger Barry Bonds remained at 719 career homers, going hitless in three at-bats with a walk. He is 3-for-20 on the current road trip and hasn't homered since June 24.

"We just really went after him and pitched him tough," Dodgers catcher Russell Martin said regarding Bonds. "He got himself out a couple of times on balls a little up in the zone."

Bonds acknowledged disappointment concerning his lack of production. He's hitting .242 with 11 homers and 35 RBI.

"Yeah, a little bit," he said. "I know I can still do it. It's not happening right now."

Then, he added with a smile: "It matters down the stretch."

Bonds also made a diving attempt to catch Kenny Lofton's blooper into short left field in the fifth, but came up short.

"I must have been playing too far back," Bonds said.

Randy Winn singled to start the game and took third on a double by Omar Vizquel. Alou hit a run-scoring single and Bonds walked to load the bases. Ray Durham grounded into a force play to drive in the second run of the inning before Feliz's RBI single.

San Francisco extended its lead in the third on Feliz's run-scoring infield out and an RBI double by Lance Niekro.

The Dodgers scored twice in the bottom of the third on Nomar Garciaparra's run-scoring infield hit and Andre Ethier's sacrifice fly with the bases loaded.

The Dodgers got their final run in the seventh on a run-scoring single by Martinez. With runners at first and second and one out, Hennessey struck out Ethier and retired Cesar Izturis on a liner to right.

"We hung in there, kept battling back and made a good ballgame out of it," Dodgers manager Grady Little said. "We had a few chances to bust it open and didn't get it done."

Cain allowed six hits and three runs in four-plus innings with three walks and two strikeouts.

Hendrickson, making his second start for the Dodgers, gave up nine hits and five runs in six innings while walking one and striking out three.

"I was getting groundballs, but they weren't directed at our infielders," Hendrickson said. "I found my rhythm tonight. After the first inning, I seemed to find a little bit better groove. It was just one of those games where we got in too big a hole too early."

Game notes
Dodgers closer Eric Gagne might need back surgery. After being hospitalized Wednesday because of lower back pain, an examination Thursday revealed two herniated disks, trainer Stan Johnston said, adding a decision on surgery will probably be made by the weekend. ... Dodgers 2B Jeff Kent missed his third straight game due to soreness in his left side. ... Bonds said he plans to start all four games of this series. ... Garciaparra, selected Thursday as the final member of the NL All-Star team, extended his hitting streak to 18 games -- the second-longest in the NL this year behind Edgar Renteria's 23-game streak. ... Garciaparra twice was hit by pitches. He was hit three times Tuesday night against Arizona. ... Dodgers OF J.D. Drew got an infield single in the fifth to extend his hitting streak to 12 games.