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. Fake Shoes Black Friday . On June 12, just as the sun sets on the magnificent historical city of Sao Paulo the inventors, innovators and purveyors of “joga bonitowill” open their campaign. The opponent, Croatia and all its football might and will. 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Lee held the overnight lead but mixed three birdies with two bogeys for a 70. Fidel Castro, who led his bearded rebels to victorious revolution in 1959, embraced Soviet-style communism and defied the power of 10 U.S. presidents during his half-century of rule in Cuba, has died at age 90.With a shaking voice, President Raul Castro said on state television in Havana that his older brother died at 10:29 p.m. Friday. He ended the announcement by shouting the revolutionary slogan: Toward victory, always!Castro, who outlasted a crippling U.S. trade embargo as well as dozens, possibly hundreds, of assassination plots, died 10 years after a life-threatening illness led him to turn over power to his brother and a little more than a year after Cuba and the United States resumed diplomatic relations following 50 years of Cold War hostility.The centerpiece of the détente saw U.S. President Barack Obama travel to the island nation to see the Tampa Bay Rays play a baseball game against the Cuban national team in March. It was the first time a major league team played in Cuba since 1999.Born near Birán, Cuba, on Aug. 13, 1926, to a sugar plantation owner, Castro grew up in a wealthy household and attended El Colegio de Belén in Havana, where he pitched for the schools baseball team, played basketball and ran track. After graduation, he turned his attention to politics. Castro became one of the leaders of a revolutionary movement, and in 1958 he and his guerrilla forces began a campaign to successfully overthrow Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista.In February 1959, Castro became the countrys new leader and remained in power until 2008. His socialist policies and cozy relationship with the Soviet Union led to contentious relations with the United States.For decades, Castro was a source of inspiration and support to revolutionaries from Latin America to Africa, even as Cubans who fled to exile loathed him with equal measure.In 1961, a CIA-trained group of Cuban exiles launched a disastrous invasion of the Bay of Pigs, an attempt to overthrow Castro. A year later, the U.S. and the Soviet Union engaged in a dramatic face-off over the installation of nuclear-armed Soviet missiles in Cuba, just 90 miles from Florida. The conflict nearly resulted in nuclear war.His commitment to socialism was unwavering, though his power finally began to fade in mid-2006 when a gastrointestinal ailment forced him to hand over the presidency to Raul in 2008, provisionally at first and then permanently. Castros defiant image lingered long after he gave up his trademark Cohiba cigars for health reasons and his tall frame grew stooped.Socialism or death remained Castros rallying cry even as Western-style democracy swept the globe and other communist regimes in China and Vietnam embraced capitalism, leaving this island of 11 million people an economically crippled Marxist curiosity.He survived long enough to see his brother negotiate an opening with U.S. President Barack Obama on Dec. 17, 2014, when Washington and Havana announced they would move to restore dipllomatic ties for the first time since they were severed in 1961.dddddddddddd He cautiously blessed the historic deal with his lifelong enemy in a letter published after a monthlong silence.Raul has announced plans to retire as president when his current term ends on Feb. 24, 2018. Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel, a relatively younger leader, is seen as a possible successor.In the Cuban capital, flags flew at half-staff at public buildings and some foreign embassies across the city Saturday. By midday, the U.S. Embassys flag had not been lowered.As Castros rivalry with the U.S. played out in diplomatic and military crises, it also played out on baseball fields, in boxing rings and on rubberized tracks.Soon after coming to power, Castro recognized the potential benefits of national excellence in athletics and Cuba eventually became one of the strongest sporting nations in the world -- despite a population only slightly greater than New York Citys.At the Olympics, Castros athletes were at their best. Cuba won no gold medals at any Games from 1906 to 1968, but all of that changed beginning in 1972. In Munich, then in Montreal and then in Moscow -- Games the United States boycotted -- Cuba was an Olympic force. Heavyweight boxer Teofilo Stevenson won three consecutive gold medals and Alberto Juantorena became the first man to win both the 400- and 800-meter races.Cuban sport was back in the international spotlight in 1991 as the nation hosted the Pan-Am Games, which, more than any athlete, Castro dominated. He seemed to be at every venue, cheering every heat and every Cuban athlete.The following year, Cuba returned to the Olympic fold just in time to win the first Olympic baseball championship, defeating the U.S. and delighting Castro. Soon thereafter, many of its top players started defecting to the United States, where, instead of earning the equivalent of a thousand dollars a year, they could sign contracts worth millions of dollars.In more recent years, baseball has provided opportunities for Cuban-American détente. In 1999, over strenuous objections from the Cuban émigré community in Florida, the Baltimore Orioles played two games against the Cuban national team. The Orioles won the first game, which was held in Havana, and the Cuban national team won the second game, which was held in Baltimore.In December 2014, Obama and Raul Castro announced a restoration of diplomatic ties between the two countries. And on March 22, 2016, in Havanas Estadio Latinoamericano. the Rays defeated the Cuban national baseball team 4-1 -- a game attended by Obama, Raul Castro and Rachel Robinson, the widow of baseball legend Jackie Robinson.Fidel Castro was not in attendance. Ever the revolutionary, he castigated the United States in a column he wrote three days after the visit, saying, We dont need the empire to give us anything. ' ' '