Giants 5, Dodgers 3: Pablo Sandoval and Hunter Pence homered and visiting San Francisco held on to beat arch-rival Los Angeles to win the season-opening series.

Sandoval’s blast off Dodgers starter Josh Beckett capped a four-run third inning for the Giants and Pence’s solo homer in the sixth gave San Francisco some insurance after the Dodgers scored an unearned run in the fifth.

Giants starter Tim Lincecum (1-0), looking to bounce back from his worst year in the majors, allow two unearned runs in five innings but matched his career high with seven walks. He pitched out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the second inning and stranded two more runners in the fourth.

The Giants got to Beckett (0-1) in the third inning, putting runners on second and third with none out on a single by Gregor Blanco and a double by Brandon Crawford. Lincecum drove in the first run with a groundout, Crawford scored on an error by second baseman Skip Schumaker and, one out later, Sandoval drove a high fastball over the right-field wall for a 4-1 lead.

The Dodgers took a 1-0 lead when Carl Crawford scored on a passed ball in the first. They added a second run in the fifth, and loaded the bases with nobody out in the sixth but could manage only one run when Matt Kemp hit into a double play, dropping him to 0-for-10 on the season and keeping him hitless over his last six games.

GAME NOTEBOOK: After starting at catcher the first two games of the series, Buster Posey moved to first base in place of Brandon Belt, who was still recovering from a stomach ailment that kept him out of Tuesday’s game. Hector Sanchez started behind the plate. … Dodgers SS Justin Sellers was benched after committing two errors in Tuesday’s loss. Luis Cruz moved from third base to shortstop and Juan Uribe started at third, his first start since Aug. 14. … The only other time Lincecum walked seven batters was Sept. 7 against the Dodgers in San Francisco.