CAMILO DOVAL

Only the San Francisco Giants themselves envisioned a season with success quite like this.

Cody Bellinger hit a tiebreaking single in the ninth inning and prized midseason acquisition Max Scherzer came out of the bullpen for his first career save, sending the Los Angeles Dodgers past the San Francisco Giants 2-1 in a thrilling winner-take-all Game 5 and into the NL Championship Series.

Evan Longoria homered off Max Scherzer in the fifth inning and the San Francisco Giants edged the Los Angeles Dodgers 1-0 on a blustery night to take a 2-1 lead in their NL Division Series.

Logan Webb struck out 10 pitching masterfully in his postseason debut, Buster Posey hit a two-run homer that held up, and the 107-win San Francisco Giants blanked the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers 4-0 in the opener of their NL Division Series.

Scott Kazmir got the San Francisco Giants into a jam and rookie reliever Camilo Doval got them right out of it. Doval got three huge outs on eight pitches at a pivotal juncture for the Giants, who beat the free-falling San Diego Padres 8-6 Wednesday night to take a two-game lead in the NL West. Kris Bryant hit a bases-clearing double and Buster Posey had four hits and scored three times.

Pinch-hitting pitcher Kevin Gausman lofted a full-count, bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the 11th inning and the San Francisco Giants edged the Atlanta Braves 6-5 to increase their NL West lead.

Kris Bryant drew a pair of standing ovations in his return to Wrigley Field, then Evan Longoria and Brandon Belt homered in the seventh inning to send the San Francisco Giants over the Chicago Cubs 6-1 for their fifth straight win.

Steven Duggar hit a tiebreaking two-run triple after being called up earlier in the day, Brandon Belt homered, and the San Francisco Giants wrapped up their key weekend series against the rival Los Angeles Dodgers with a 6-4 win to take the NL West lead.

Andrew Knapp hit the winning single in the ninth inning, Bryce Harper hit a tying solo homer in the seventh and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the San Francisco Giants 6-5.