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SAN FRANCISCO -- Adrian Gonzalez has been around all of two weeks, and he is certain the Los Angeles Dodgers are a playoff team. Whether NL West champions or wild card, he's not sure.

Hanley Ramirez helped the cause by hitting a go-ahead RBI double in the top of the ninth inning and the undermanned Dodgers trimmed a game off their division deficit with a 3-2 win over the first-place San Francisco Giants on Saturday.

It will take plenty more timely hits down the stretch for the Dodgers to return to the playoffs after a two-year absence. They've been hard to come by, too.

"We're getting there," Gonzalez said. "I don't know about winning the division. We're getting there somehow."

Gonzalez led off the ninth with a triple against Jeremy Affeldt (1-2), then Ramirez came through with a double to the gap in right-center -- the Dodgers' first hit in 15 tries so far this series with runners in scoring position.

Gonzalez, who came to Los Angeles in an Aug. 25 trade from the Red Sox, clapped his hands when he reached third in a rare display of emotion. An inconsistent swing has given him fits all season.

"You guys don't go down the tunnel after at-bats. Helmets are being slammed and chairs are being thrown around," Gonzalez said. "It's actually true, absolutely."

Ronald Belisario (5-1) pitched out of trouble in the eighth for the victory, helping Los Angeles snap a four-game losing streak to rival San Francisco in a key September weekend.

"We need confidence," Ramirez said. "We've got to believe in ourselves and what kind of team we've got."

Buster Posey hit an RBI single in the first and Brandon Belt added a go-ahead RBI with a groundout in the eighth for the Giants, who lead the Dodgers by 4½ games.

The Dodgers were without center fielder Matt Kemp because of his troublesome left shoulder. He received a cortisone shot and also won't play Sunday. Infielder Adam Kennedy is expected to be done for the season after injuring his groin during Friday's 5-2 loss. Manager Don Mattingly said Kennedy was hurt when the third baseman tried to barehand Hunter Pence's infield bouncer for an RBI single in the sixth inning.

Los Angeles pulled through with players down as it has many times in 2012.

"It's going to be a fight and we know it," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "It's our nature. We don't do anything easy in our games. There's a lot of baseball left."

Pinch-runner Alex Castellanos scored the tying run on a wild pitch in the top of the eighth to chase Giants starter Matt Cain. Juan Rivera doubled to start the inning and A.J. Ellis sacrificed him to third, where Castellanos entered. Bobby Abreu came in to pinch-hit and Cain threw wildly on a full count for ball four as Abreu drew a walk.

Santiago Casilla, Friday night's winning pitcher, relieved and escaped further damage but the Giants' bullpen couldn't pull off a second consecutive win.

Brandon League pitched the ninth for Los Angeles to earn his 11th save overall and second since joining the Dodgers from Seattle on July 30. He allowed Gregor Blanco's two-out double before retiring pinch-hitter Hector Sanchez on a liner to third.

Cain, who tossed a perfect game June 13 at home against the Astros, worked into the eighth inning but wound up with a third straight no-decision. He allowed two runs and six hits in 7 1/3 innings, struck out five and walked two.

Cain shut down the middle of the Dodgers lineup most of the way just as Tim Lincecum did a night earlier. That included Gonzalez, who came in with four career homers and 13 RBIs against Cain. Gonzalez's triple was his first hit of the day after he grounded into an inning-ending double play in the first and a pair of flyouts.

Cain threw two wild pitches in a game for just the second time after also doing so Aug. 29, 2010, against Arizona.

"The wild pitch is really frustrating right now," he said. "It's really aggravating right now."

Chris Capuano gave up two runs and five hits in seven innings but saw his winless stretch reach five starts since a victory at Miami on Aug. 12. He is 0-2 and has only one victory over his past nine outings.

The lefty is 1-6 in 12 career outings and eight starts against the Giants, including a loss Aug. 22 at Dodger Stadium.

After Posey's hit, he retired 12 straight before Blanco beat out an infield single that Mattingly argued with first-base umpire Brian O'Nora. Replays showed Capuano's foot hitting the bag before Blanco made it. But he was later out on a close play at third that drew Bochy out of the dugout for words with umpire Alfonso Marquez.

Capuano singled in the sixth and became just the second Dodgers player to get beyond first when he advanced on Mark Ellis' single. The pitcher scored the tying run on Shane Victorino's sacrifice fly.

Game notes

Posey threw out three players trying to steal, a career high. ... The Dodgers won in a game started by Cain for just the second time in the past eight matchups. ... The Giants also lost for just the fifth time in their past 17 against NL West opponents. Their final 23 games come versus the division. ... Anyelina Pagan, 7, announced her father's plate appearance leading off the third inning as a Giants "junior announcer." She said, "my daddy, Angel Pagan." ... On Sept. 8, 2004, the Dodgers became the first team in major league history to have pinch-hit grand slams in consecutive games when Olmedo Saenz delivered a day after Robin Ventura did it. ... LHP Clayton Kershaw (12-7) pitches in Sunday's finale for Los Angeles against fellow southpaw Barry Zito (10-8).