SAN FRANCISCO - Pablo Sandoval singled in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning, lifting the San Francisco Giants to a 2-1 victory over the rival Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday night and into first place in the NL West. The struggling Sandoval came through after reliever J.P. Howell (1-1) intentionally walked Hunter Pence with two outs. Sandoval, who entered the game batting just .164, grounded into centre field to score Joaquin Arias from second. Jean Machi (3-0) pitched out of a bases-loaded jam earlier in the seventh for the win. Buster Posey broke an 0-for-13 skid with an RBI single in the third to give the Giants a 1-0 lead. Dee Gordons tying triple in the sixth accounted for the Dodgers lone run. Los Angeles at least dodged worse news. Shortstop Hanley Ramirez left in the seventh after getting hit by a pitch from Ryan Vogelsong on the top of his left hand. The team said X-rays on Ramirezs hand were negative. Sergio Romo pitched a perfect ninth for his fourth save, striking out Adrian Gonzalez and Matt Kemp to end the game. Vogelsong allowed the one run and four hits in six-plus innings to help the Giants win their third straight game. He struck out two and walked two to match Paul Maholm most of the way. Maholm gave up one run and five hits in six innings. He struck out two and walked three to rebound from a loss in his only other start this season on April 5, when he allowed five runs in 4 1-3 innings to the Giants. San Francisco improved to 4-1 against the Dodgers this season in a race that could remain tight through the summer. Both teams began the day with a 9-5 record. The starting pitchers kept the game moving at a far brisker pace than the nearly 5-hour contest Tuesday night that ended when Hector Sanchez singled home the winning run with two outs in the 12th inning to give the Giants the win. The biggest blemish came when Vogelsong hit the top of Ramirezs left hand to open the seventh. Ramirez slammed his helmet to the ground and hopped around in pain before being replaced by Justin Turner. After the Dodgers loaded the bases with one out, Machi fielded a hard comebacker from Juan Uribe to start a home-to-first double play. The biggest hold up came from baseballs new replay system after Vogelsong pick of Kemp at first base in the second inning. Dodgers manager Don Mattingly challenge the play, which umpires upheld after a 4:25 video review that drew light boos from some fans during the wait. NOTES: Dodgers ace and reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw, who is on the disabled list with a strained muscle in his back, threw breaking balls off flat ground. He is scheduled to throw off a mound Thursday. ... An MRI on Dodgers RHP Chad Billingsley showed no ligament damage in his elbow, Mattingly said. Billingsley has some tendinitis that will delay his recovery. ... Giants SS Brandon Crawford sat out with tightness in his right hamstring but said he expects to play Thursday. ... The Giants activated lefty reliever Jeremy Affeldt (sprained right knee) from the 15-day disabled list and optioned OF Juan Perez to Triple-A Fresno. ... Dodgers right fielder Yasiel Puig entered in the seventh and grounded out in the eighth. ... Giants LHP Madison Bumgarner (2-0, 3.31 ERA) takes the mound opposite Dodgers LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu (2-1, 2.57 ERA) in Thursdays series finale. Cheap Jerseys Cyber Monday . Judging by his performance Saturday night, Cotto has plenty left in the tank. Cotto became the first Puerto Rican fighter to win world championships in four weight divisions, stopping Sergio Martinez in their WBC world middleweight title fight Saturday night. Authentic Cyber Monday Jerseys . Today, well look at five frontcourt players today, here from the Bay Area. 1. 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Signed until the end of the season as injury cover, Kallstrom might not be fit until mid-March after arriving Friday at Arsenal having injured his back earlier in the week while training with Spartak Moscow.With the start of the Asian Cup only weeks away, a wide-open tournament has become even more unpredictable after a rash of coach firings in recent months left many of the top teams in disarray.Only six of the 16 teams in the tournament that starts on Jan. 9 in Melbourne have the same coach they started the year with.Japan and South Korea appointed new coaches following dismal World Cup campaigns that saw both finish last in their groups.Javier Aguirre was hired in August to replace Alberto Zaccheroni as coach of defending Asian Cup champion Japan, but the former Mexico coach has since become embroiled in a massive match-fixing probe launched by Spains state prosecutor in the Spanish league. Aguirre denies any wrongdoing.South Korea, meanwhile, named former Real Madrid midfielder Uli Stielike to replace Hong Myung-bo as coach in September. Hell be attempting to bring the continental trophy back to South Korea for the first time since 1960, but his squad is coming off a 3-1 loss to Costa Rica in a friendly in October.Things arent much more stable in western Asia. Following last months Gulf Cup, a biennial tournament played among the eight teams in region, four more teams fired their coaches — Kuwait, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.Bahrains coach had the shortest tenure of them all. Adnan Hamad, one of Asias most experienced coaches, was appointed in August only to be fired three months later after his team failed to advance to the knockout stages of the Gulf Cup.Of course, (firing the coach) is not ideal and historically it hasnt really proved to work, said Anthony Hudson, the English coach who led Bahrain before Hamad took over. The reality is there is very little time to shape and organize the team.Kuwait started the Gulf Cup promisingly, but fired Brazilian coach Jorvan Vieira following a 5-0 loss to Oman. Vieira, who led Iraq to the 2007 Asian Cup title, was replaced by former Tunisia midfielder Nabil Maaloul.ddddddddddddKuwait is in perhaps the toughest group at the Asian Cup, alongside host Australia, South Korea and Oman.Our group at the Asian Cup is very difficult, Maaloul said. However, we want to put in a good performance at the Asian Cup, as we will not be there just to take part.Saudi Arabia has changed coaches more than 20 times since reaching the second round of the 1994 World Cup. At nearly two years, Juan Lopez Caro lasted longer than most but finally was let go after losing the final of the Gulf Cup in Riyadh to Qatar.On Monday, Romanian coach Cosmin Olaroiu, currently in charge of United Arab Emirates club Al Ahli, said in Abu Dhabi he will take the Saudi job.Iraq fired Hakeem Shaker following a last-place finish in its group at the Gulf Cup last month. The 2007 Asian Cup champions are still searching for a replacement after a potential deal with Sebastiao Lazaroni, who coached Brazil at the 1990 World Cup, fell through.Even North Korea has had problems of late. The teams coach, Yun Jung Soo, was punished by the Asian Football Confederation after criticizing the referees following his teams loss to South Korea in the final of the Asian Games in October. He has been banned from entering the stadium on match days at the Asian Cup, though he can take part in training sessions.Host Australia is still getting used to its new coach as well. Since Ange Postecoglou was hired to the position last October, the Socceroos were knocked out in the group stage of the World Cup and have won only one of their last 10 matches.Asias in-form team at the moment is Qatar, which defeated Saudi Arabia to take the Gulf Cup title and recently defeated Australia and Uzbekistan in friendlies.We have big ambitions and this competition is a new step for us in a long-term project, Qatar coach Djamel Belmadi told FIFA.com. Every competition is unique and well give everything to be up to the challenge. ' ' '