LOS ANGELES -- The "MVP! MVP!" chants that reverberated throughout Dodger Stadium only amplified the challenge facing Tyler Beede in a crucial spot in the Giants’ 1-0 victory over the Dodgers on Saturday night.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, National League MVP frontrunner Cody Bellinger stepped up to the plate to face Beede with the bases loaded and two outs. Manager Bruce Bochy had Andrew Suarez ready in the bullpen for a possible lefty-on-lefty matchup, but he opted to stick with Beede and give him a chance to work out of the jam.

Beede missed badly with his first pitch of the at-bat, unleashing a 96 mph fastball that sailed high and triggered a mound visit from pitching coach Curt Young. After Young retreated to the dugout, Beede threw a changeup outside of the strike zone, falling behind 2-0 to Bellinger.

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“I think I was overthrowing at that point,” Beede said. “I sort of had the understanding that I just needed to just settle down and not try to do more, but try to do less, And I think [Young] saw that and probably wanted to come out and say the same thing.”

Beede settled back in and threw another 95 mph fastball on the outside corner that Bellinger fouled off catcher Stephen Vogt’s glove. Determined to keep challenging Bellinger, Beede came back with the same pitch and induced a flyout to left field to leave the bases loaded. He walked off the field with a 1-0 lead after completing five shutout innings, marking his best start since tossing eight scoreless innings against the Mets on July 19.

“That was hopefully a big out for him, to get that win and get one of the best hitters out in the game with what was at stake,” Bochy said. “It’s something he should feel really good about. I just wanted to give the kid a shot there, and he came through.”

The Giants’ bullpen took care of the rest, a remarkable feat considering the club was without All-Star closer Will Smith (back tightness) and setup man Tony Watson (wrist soreness).

Shaun Anderson, Tyler Rogers, Suarez, Sam Coonrod, Fernando Abad and Jandel Gustave combined to fire four innings in relief to cap the shutout, allowing Beede to snap his six-game losing streak and earn his first win since July 14. With Smith unavailable, Bochy summoned Gustave in the ninth and watched as the 26-year-old right-hander worked around a leadoff walk to post a scoreless inning and earn his first career save. It secured only the Dodgers’ fourth shutout loss of the season and their first since May 18.

“What those kids did, they just handled themselves so well,” Bochy said. “Hey, you’re going to have to deal with injuries, and right now, we have that in the bullpen. This is great experience for these guys. It’s really an electric atmosphere out there. They’ll just get better and better because of games like this.”

After winning the first two games of this three-game set, the Giants will have a chance to sweep Bochy’s final series at Dodger Stadium when they send Dereck Rodriguez to the mound in Sunday’s finale.

The Giants had lost each of Beede’s last eight starts after he posted a 7.05 ERA over that tumultuous span, but he returned to form at Dodger Stadium, where he earned his first career win by firing six innings of one-run ball in June. He rose to the occasion again Saturday night, limiting the Dodgers to four hits while walking three and striking out five.

“I like pitching here,” Beede said. “They’re big games for us any time we play here with the rivalry. We’ve played great baseball here. We’ve taken two games from one of the best teams in baseball. We’ll try to continue to keep it going.”