Giants' relievers shut down Dodgers, 7-6

LOS ANGELES (AP) " Jose Castillo hit a pair of RBI singles, Fred Lewis also drove in two runs and the San Francisco Giants beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-6 Monday night to end a three-game skid.

Kevin Correia (2-5) won for the first time since April 10 against St. Louis after going 0-4 with a 6.65 ERA over his previous nine starts. The right-hander allowed six runs " four earned " and seven hits in 5 1-3 innings. He struck out five, walked none and hit a two-out, two-run single in the Giants' five-run fourth.

Slumping Dodgers center fielder Andruw Jones did not start for the second straight game, even though he was 4-for-9 lifetime against Correia with three home runs. He hit for reliever Brian Falkenborg with runners at the corners in the sixth and delivered an RBI single against Sergio Romo to cut the Giants' lead to 7-6.

Jeff Kent nearly tied it in the seventh, sending a drive to center field that Aaron Rowand caught with his back against the fence.

Brian Wilson, the sixth Giants pitcher, worked a perfect ninth for his NL-leading 28th save in 30 chances.

Newly acquired Dodgers third baseman Casey Blake was ejected by first base umpire Greg Gibson for arguing from the dugout after getting called out on a checked-swing third strike in the eighth. Manager Joe Torre continued the argument and picked up his second ejection with the Dodgers and first since April 24.

Hiroki Kuroda (5-8) had his worst outing of the season on Japanese Community Night at Dodger Stadium. The right-hander, who has pitched two complete-game shutouts this season, surrendered seven runs and nine hits in 3 2-3 innings.

A mental lapse by Kuroda helped the Giants score five runs in the fourth, extending their lead to 7-0. With runners at the corners, one out and rookie John Bowker running with the pitch, Rich Aurilia hit a dribbler back to the mound. Kuroda looked Rowand back to third, then tried to force Bowker at second with no success.

Omar Vizquel struck out with the bases loaded, but Correia slapped a 1-2 pitch to center for a two-run single. Lewis beat out a slow bouncer to shortstop for a hit as Aurilia scored, and the Giants capped the rally with RBI singles by Castillo and Randy Winn " their last hits of the game.

That was it for Kuroda, who failed to make it through the fourth inning for the fifth time in 20 starts this season.

The Dodgers, coming off a three-game sweep of the lowly Washington Nationals, got a five-spot of their own in the fifth.

The rally began with a throwing error by second baseman Castillo on James Loney's grounder. Andre Ethier and Angel Berroa hit RBI singles and pinch-hitter Mark Sweeney doubled home two more. Sweeney scored when Gold Glove catcher Bengie Molina threw wildly to first base on a bunt single by Juan Pierre.

Aurilia and Vizquel opened the Giants' third with singles and advanced on Correia's sacrifice. Aurilia scored on a groundout by Lewis and Vizquel came home on Castillo's single.

NOTES: The results of an MRI taken on Dodgers SS Nomar Garciaparra's left knee revealed a Grade 1 sprain of the medial collateral ligament. He was injured making a tag play against Washington's Lastings Milledge on Sunday. ... RHP Brad Penny, who hasn't pitched for the Dodgers since June 14 because of shoulder tendinitis and bursitis, threw a bullpen session Monday and will have a rehab outing of 45 pitches on Wednesday with Class A Inland Empire. He'll get one more minor league rehab start with Triple-A Las Vegas, after which he hopes to return to the rotation on Aug. 9 at San Francisco. ... Correia retired his first 10 batters before Matt Kemp reached on an infield single up the middle to extend his career-best hitting streak to 15 games. ... Among the crowd of 37,483 was actress Nicollette Sheridan from ABC's "Desperate Housewives."