Bumgarner and Giants win a jewel of a duel

The San Francisco Giants will be without their best hitter for the remainder of the regular season.

In time, Melky Cabrera’s 50-game drug suspension could turn out to be a lethal blow to their postseason ambitions.

But that time hasn’t come.

The Dodgers fell half a game behind the Giants in the National League West on Monday night, as Clayton Kershaw was outpitched at Dodger Stadium by fellow left-hander Madison Bumgarner in a 2-1 victory for the visitors.

Kershaw pitched masterfully, limiting the Giants to two runs and six hits over eight innings. He struck out 10 and walked none. But Bumgarner was even better.

He blanked the Dodgers over eight innings and held them to four hits. Like Kershaw, he struck out 10 and walked none.

“Losing sucks no matter what,” Kershaw said. “Tonight doesn’t feel any better.”

Kershaw has posted a 1.74 earned-run average in four starts against the Giants this season. But he is 1-3 in those games.

“Anytime you play the Giants, obviously, it’s a big game, especially right now,” Kershaw said. “Every game is big at this point.”

Manager Don Mattingly lamented the lost opportunity.

“I think it’s frustrating for all of us,” Mattingly said. “You get an outing like that, you want to get a win.”

Twice, the Dodgers had men in scoring position against Bumgarner. Twice, Bumgarner struck out a Dodger to escape: A.J. Ellis in the second inning and Matt Kemp in the sixth.

The Giants capitalized on their few opportunities.

Angel Pagan led off the game with a double to left-center, advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Marco Scutaro and scored on a sacrifice fly by Pablo Sandoval to put the Giants ahead, 1-0.

The Giants doubled their lead in the sixth inning, when Pagan beat shortstop Hanley Ramirez’s off-balance throw for an infield hit. Pagan moved to second base when Ramirez failed to backhand a ground ball hit by Scutaro and scored on a hit by Sandoval.

“They had two runs, we didn’t,” Kershaw said.

Ramirez closed the gap to 2-1 with two outs in the ninth inning, depositing a slider from Sergio Romo into the left-field pavilion for his 19th home run.

The Giants weren’t alone in missing their best hitter. The Dodgers were too.

Matt Kemp was 0 for 4 with a strikeout, making him hitless in his last 19 at-bats. “Seems like the first time it’s been any kind of extended period,” Mattingly said.

Kemp entered the game batting .429 against left-handers, but was 0 for 3 against Bumgarner.

“This guy’s a tough matchup for a lot of guys,” Mattingly said. “Matt’s killed left-handers all year.”

This won’t be the only tough matchup for the Dodgers this week.

Tim Lincecum will pitch for the Giants on Tuesday. He hasn’t resembled the pitcher who won two Cy Young awards for most of this season, but is 3-3 with a 3.30 ERA over his last seven starts.

All-Star Matt Cain will take the mound in the finale.

Mattingly acknowledged there is a lot at stake.

“I’m not going to downplay it,” he said. “We feel like it’s a big series.”

After this week, the next time the Dodgers will host the Giants will be in the final series of the regular season.

“I hope we have it locked up long before then,” Kershaw said. “But I have a feeling those three games might mean something.”

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dylan.hernandez@latimes.com