SAN FRANCISCO -- A.J. Ellis didnt have to do much guessing when he came up to face Giants closer Sergio Romo with the bases loaded in the ninth. Having been a part of this rivalry his entire big league career, Ellis knew exactly what to expect. He was right. Ellis hit a three-run double off Romo to back a third straight stellar start by All-Star Clayton Kershaw and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat slumping San Francisco 4-1 on Sunday. "Its a great thing about the Dodgers and Giants, theres no secrets," Ellis said. "With Sergio right there, you know what his bread and butter is. You know hes trying to throw a slider. Fortunately for me and for the team I found a ball that I could hit." With the win, the Dodgers moved into sole possession of second place in the NL West heading into a three-game series with division-leading Arizona. Ellis game-winning hit capped a heated series between these two long-time rivals. Players from both sides jawed at one another throughout the three games, and Romo even mocked Dodgers slugger Hanley Ramirez after securing a save on Saturday. Romo didnt have anything to say after Sundays game. He quickly dressed then brushed past waiting reporters in the Giants clubhouse without speaking. The Dodgers didnt seem too concerned about it. Their fourth consecutive series win moved them ahead of the Giants and Rockies, 4 1-2 games behind the Diamondbacks. "We need to win games like that," said Kershaw, who improved to 11-4 lifetime against the Giants. "Weve shown we can swing the bats and blow some guys out recently. Tight games like that were going to need a clutch hit and A.J. came through today. That was huge." Kershaw (8-5), a candidate to start the All-Star game for the National League, wasnt as crisp as hed been in his previous two starts but still only allowed one run over eight innings. He struck out three and overcame hitting his first batter of the season. The Dodgers ace allowed the Giants only run in the third after Guillermo Quiroz doubled, took third on a wild pitch and scored on Andres Torres sacrifice fly. Kershaw retired the next seven batters before walking pitcher Chad Gaudin to open the sixth. But Torres grounded into a double play and Marco Scutaro flew out to end the inning. Kenley Jansen worked the ninth for his ninth save. "He just imposes his will on not just these guys but everybody," Ellis said. "He was attacking the strike zone and keeping them off balance." Ramirez doubled and tripled to extend his career-high hitting streak to 18 games for Los Angeles while rookie Yasiel Puig added two hits, including a single that started the rally in the ninth. "Theres no question its a tough loss," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "These guys are resilient and handling this as well as they can." Puig singled off Romo (3-4) to open the ninth. Adrian Gonzalez followed with a sharp single that first baseman Buster Posey initially knocked down. Posey tried flipping the ball to shortstop Joaquin Arias covering second but threw the ball into left field for an error. When San Francisco third baseman Pablo Sandoval raced to retrieve the ball, Puig alertly advanced to third. Ramirez was retired on a comebacker, Andre Ethier was intentionally walked to load the bases and Juan Uribe struck out before Ellis lined a two-out double into left-centre. That secured Kershaws third win over the Giants this season while keeping the NLs ERA leader in line for a possible start in the All-Star game in New York on July 16. Bochy, who will lead the National League, will make the decision. "I had pretty good command other than (walking) the pitcher," said Kershaw, who has a 0.79 ERA in 10 games at the Giants waterfront stadium. "Its a great park to pitch in. I just like it here." Gaudin, who had been out since getting hit in the right elbow by a line drive from Miamis Derek Dietrich on June 20, was just as sharp as the Dodgers three-time All-Star. He retired 12 of 13 during one stretch and worked out of a two-on, two-out jam in the seventh by striking out Uribe before departing. Gaudin finished with nine strikeouts -- his most since June 28, 2009 -- and one intentional walk. Ramirez tripled leading off the second against Gaudin and Ethier followed with a bloop single to drive in the Dodgers first run. Puig, who struck out twice in his first three at-bats after fanning four times on Saturday, made a diving catch on a fly ball by Quiroz in the eighth. NOTES: LHP Mike Kickham was optioned to Triple-A Fresno before the game to make room for Gaudin. ... OF Matt Kemp was held out of the lineup to rest his ailing shoulder but is expected back in the Dodgers lineup on Monday. ... Los Angeles manager Don Mattingly said newly acquired Ricky Nolasco will replace LHP Chris Capuano in the Dodgers rotation. ... Giants RHP Santiago Casilla will pitch at least twice more in the minors before rejoining the big league club, Bochy said. ... San Francisco also got good news on RHP Ryan Vogelsong, who has missed the past two months with a broken right hand. Vogelsong played catch before Sundays game and could resume throwing off a mound as early as the All-Star break. ... Home run king Barry Bonds was in attendance. ... RHP Zack Greinke (6-2) pitches the series opener in Arizona for the Dodgers. ... San Francisco RHP Tim Lincecum (4-9) will go against the Mets seeking his first win since June 4. Joe Namath Jersey . Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek defeated Nenad Zimonjic and Ilija Bozoljac 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (4) on the indoor hard-court at Belgrade Arena. The victory improved the Czech pairs impressive cup doubles record to 14-1. Mark Gastineau Womens Jersey .Y. -- The Buffalo Sabres have placed centre Cody Hodgson on injured reserve and recalled two players from their AHL affiliate in Rochester. http://www.jetsrookiestore.com/Jets-Robby-Anderson-Jersey/ . As the crowd erupted, Davis knocked the ball off the glass and back into his hands. With 1:14 to go in overtime, Davis sixth block also became his 17th rebound. That, along with his 32 points -- which tied a career high -- proved too much for Denver to overcome, and the Pelicans held on for their third straight victory, 111-107 on Sunday night. Joe Namath Youth Jersey . "Four now," Carl Gunnarsson told the Leaf Report proudly following a 5-2 victory over New York on Tuesday night, the clubs fifth straight at home. Wayne Chrebet Youth Jersey . Thats not a comment on the suspension that banished the Portland Winterhawks general manager and coach from his Western Hockey League teams bench for most of the 2012-13 season. CALGARY, Alberta -- The New York Rangers have been a perfect fit for the speedy Michael Grabner.Grabner and Derek Stepan scored in the first period, Henrik Lundqvist stopped 35 shots, and the high-scoring Rangers beat the Calgary Flames 4-1 Saturday night.Grabners team-leading eighth goal 6:32 in the first period gave New York a 1-0 lead. It came on an innocent-looking 2-on-1 rush when his 40-foot wrister beat Brian Elliott on the glove side. In just 15 games, Grabner -- who signed with the Rangers in the offseason -- is just one goal shy of his total in 80 games with Toronto last year.Got off to a good start, got some confidence going and that makes life a little bit easier, the 29-year-old Austrian said. Its been working in my favor the systems here. A lot of guys that can skate here, were trying to keep the game fast and thats obviously my kind of style.Jimmy Vesey and Pavel Buchnevich also scored for New York, which has won six of seven. The Rangers lead the NHL with 62 goals.Its impressive to see how we create chances every game, Lundqvist said. Sometimes its tough against different lineups, different systems, but weve been able to create a lot of scoring chances. Even the games we havent scored a lot weve had a lot of chances to do so.Asked if he thought the Rangers were the better team despite being outshot 36-28, New York coach Alain Vigneault said.: In the first two periods there was no doubt. We were able to create a couple turnovers, counter attack quickly, and we were able to capitalize on our opportunities.Micheal Ferland spoiled Lundqvists shutout bid with 8:48 remaining and Elliott finished with 24 saves for Calgary, which has lost four straight and six of seven.Flames coach Glen Gulutzan believes the game started to unravel as soon as his club fell behind on Grabners goal.Were fragile right now and to see that go in and spot them one right there when we thought we got off to a good start and had some energy in front of our home fans, its deflating, Gulutzan ssaid.dddddddddddd. This is a really good club and we didnt play near the game that we needed to play and thats on us. Thats on us, thats on the coaching staff and myself.The Flames have been particularly poor at home, having lost five of their last six at the Scotiabank Saddledome.Stepans wrister doubled the Rangers lead with 8:01 left in the opening period.Vesey made it 3-0 at 9:26 of the second as he steered a pass from Ryan McDonagh through Elliotts pad. Buchnevich then finished off a lengthy passing sequence with 5:38 remaining in the period, scoring for the fourth straight game.The boos from the home crowd began and the Flames were also booed as they left the ice at the end of the game.Not a good game, Calgary captain Mark Giordano said. They came out, they had a team that we knew had a lot of speed and a lot of fire power up front. We werent hard enough, bottom line. They made us pay.Ferland got the Flames on the board in the third, ending their 0-for-28 drought on the power play at home.Game notes Elliott fell to 3-8-0, matching his loss total from last season -- when he was 23-8-6 with St. Louis. ... New York is 4-0-1 in its last five against Calgary and 7-1-1 in the last nine meetings. ... Flames D Dennis Wideman was back in the lineup after being scratched the last four games. .... Calgary rookie LW Matthew Tkachuk (wrist) skated this morning, prior to practice. Hes considered day-to-day... Flames C Matt Stajan was moved to left wing on the line with Mikael Backlund and Michael Frolik. ... Buchnevich, the Rangers 21-year-old Russian rookie, had 16 goals in the KHL last season. ... Kevin Hayes and Brad Skjei each had their six-game point streaks snapped for the Rangers.UP NEXTRangers: At Edmonton on Sunday in the second game of a four-game trip. The Rangers won 5-3 at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 3.Flames: At Minnesota on Tuesday night. ' ' '