Durham's bat helps keep Giants' hot streak going

Giants 5, Dodgers 4

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Things sure have turned around since the San Francisco Giants opened the season by losing seven of nine, including a sweep by the Dodgers.

The Giants returned the favor Thursday night, sweeping Los Angeles with a 5-4 victory that was their season-high eighth in a row.

Ray Durham doubled home the go-ahead run in the eighth inning after Barry Bonds hit into a double play with runners on the corners.

"That's big," manager Bruce Bochy said. "When you get off to a rough start, the important thing is to handle it. We're on a good roll right now with contributions from everybody."

The Dodgers dropped their fourth in a row and got swept for the first time while losing their first series at home this season.

"If you dwell on this series and it messes you up for the next series, it's a snowball effect," Dodgers centerfielder Juan Pierre said. "Good teams and individual players know how to nip it in the bud."

Kevin Correia (1-1) got the victory, allowing one hit in 1 1-3 innings with one strikeout. Armando Benitez pitched the ninth for his seventh save in as many chances.

Joe Beimel (1-1) took the loss, giving up two runs and three hits in 1 2-3 innings.

Beimel got out of a jam in the eighth after putting runners on first and third when Bonds hit a double-play grounder to third baseman Wilson Betemit that failed to score Omar Vizquel from third. But Durham followed by doubling to the warning track in center field, off Pierre's glove, scoring Vizquel.

"I pretty much directly affected this game in a bad way," said Pierre, who also missed a bunt sign in the second when Andre Ethier was running toward home and flied out to end the inning. "I know I'm better than that."

Bengie Molina's RBI single off Jonathan Broxton made it 5-3.

"I knew I had a base open at first, so I didn't want to give him anything too good," Beimel said. "I ended up leaving him something on the plate."

Beimel escaped trouble in the seventh. With a runner on first, he snared a grounder off the bat of Dave Roberts to start an inning-ending double play.

Bonds went 1-for-3 with an intentional walk for the Giants, who have won eight straight for the first time since taking 10 in a row in May 2004.

Durham went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored. Molina went 2-for-4 with two RBIs.

"When you have a more veteran team, you get those kind of at-bats," starter Russ Ortiz said. "Being able to come in and finish it off is huge for us."

Ethier cut the Giants' lead to 5-4 with a two-out homer on a 3-2 pitch from Brad Hennessey in the eighth.

The Dodgers scored three runs over the first two innings on Nomar Garciaparra's RBI single, Ethier's RBI double and Rafael Furcal's RBI single -- all to left field off Ortiz.

Dave Roberts put the Giants on the board in the third with an RBI single off Brad Penny, who was involved in his second straight no-decision.

San Francisco tied the game at 3 in the sixth on RBI singles by Durham and Molina. Durham's single went off the glove of leaping second baseman Jeff Kent.

Game notes
The Dodgers were hit by a season-high three pitches. ... The crowd of 56,000 was the Dodgers' fourth sellout and tied the largest regular-season attendance in stadium history. ... The Giants earned their fourth consecutive series sweep and their first three-game sweep at Dodger Stadium since April 2-4, 2002. ... Garciaparra avoided the bobblehead jinx with a hit on a night when fans received his likeness, joining Cesar Izturis who also had a hit on his night in 2005. Kent, Fred McGriff, Shawn Green and Paul Lo Duca were a combined 0-for-15 when the Dodgers gave away their bobbleheads.