SAN FRANCISCO -- Buster Posey was the hero for the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday, but an assist had to go to teammate Joe Panik.

And he didn't even play.

Posey pinch-hit a two-strike, two-run double with two outs in the eighth inning, capping a three-run uprising that delivered the Giants a 5-4 victory over the Cleveland Indians.

"We haven't had a lot of special moments; you have to savor them when you have them," said Giants manager Bruce Bochy, whose club posted a second straight win over the American League Central leaders to claim their first interleague series win of the season. "Great game today. These last two games (were) the kind of magic we used to have, so it's good we re-created that."

The Indians, meanwhile, dropped their sixth straight interleague series and fell to 4-13 against National League competition this season.

"We need something to happen," said Indians first baseman Carlos Santana, whose error opened the floodgates in the eighth and led the club's fifth loss in six games since the All-Star break. "We'll keep fighting. Everybody wants to win. Friday is a new day, a new series."

The Giants trailed 4-2 before Brandon Belt drew a one-out walk from left-hander Boone Logan to ignite the winning rally.

Logan strained a lat during Belt's at-bat and was replaced by closer Bryan Shaw after completing the walk.

After a single by Brandon Crawford, the Giants got within 4-3 when Santana allowed Conor Gillaspie's routine grounder to get through him for an error, scoring Belt.

"That happens in baseball," Santana said. "I made a mistake. I feel bad about it."

Shaw then struck out Nick Hundley and got within one strike of retaining the lead before Posey lined a shot over the head of Indians left fielder Michael Brantley for a double that scored Crawford and Gillaspie for a 5-4 lead.

"My pinch-hitting numbers are not very good, but it's nice to come through," said Posey, who had as many intentional walks (six) as hits (six) as a pinch hitter in 38 previous attempts. "There's definitely somewhat of an art to it."

Francona was asked if he considered walking the former NL Most Valuable Player, even though it would have put the potential go-ahead run at second base. The Giants had .236-hitting Gorkys Hernandez on deck.

"Really wasn't," he said. "You'll see (Joe) Panik next (as a pinch hitter). You put the odds in their favor doing it."

Shaw already should have been out of the inning, Francona added.

"When you're playing games like this, where every run is magnified, you have to play clean baseball," he said. "We get what we're looking for (on the grounder to Santana) and the ball goes into right field. We've got to get an out there."

All three runs in the inning, including both off Shaw (2-4), were unearned.

Sam Dyson escaped a bases-loaded jam of his own creation in the ninth by getting Jose Ramirez to fly out to right field for his fifth save.

"Anybody will tell you, a win, you don't really care how you get it. We'll take them any way," Posey said. "Hopefully, we can build off of that."

Right-hander Cory Gearrin (4-3), who retired the only batter he faced in the eighth inning, got the win.

Earlier, Brantley scored twice, once after his 1,000th career hit, and right-hander Carlos Carrasco pitched six strong innings, putting the Indians in position for the series win.

Three of Cleveland's four runs came in the third inning with the help of two walks by Giants right-hander Matt Cain.

One of those walks was to Carrasco, who entered the game without a free pass in 15 career plate appearances, with just one hit.

Cain also issued a walk to Bradley Zimmer, after which Brantley delivered an RBI single that scored a sliding Carrasco to tie the score at 1.

Ramirez followed with a two-run single, giving the Indians the lead.

The Giants closed within 3-2 on a home run by Denard Span in the fifth inning, his seventh of the season.

But the Indians got that run back after Brantley's milestone hit, a one-out double in the eighth. He scored on a single by Santana.

Neither starting pitcher got a decision.

Cain went six innings, allowing three runs and five hits. He walked two and struck out five.

Carrasco also was pulled after the sixth, having given up two runs and six hits. He walked two and struck out six.

Span and Crawford had two hits apiece for the Giants, who won for just the 12th time in 36 day games this season.

Brantley, Ramirez and Santana had two hits each for the Indians, who completed a one-win trip to the San Francisco Bay Area that began with a three-game sweep at the hands of the Oakland Athletics.

NOTES: 3B Pablo Sandoval, released by the Boston Red Sox, agreed to a minor-league deal with the Giants, MLB.com reported. The former World Series hero for the Giants is expected to play at Triple-A Sacramento. ... Indians manager Terry Francona was not optimistic about the injury suffered by LHP Boone Logan (strained lat) in the eighth inning. The pitcher will be examined Thursday. ... The Giants lead the series against the Indians 10-5. ... Both teams had nine hits in the game. ... Francona announced before the game that RHP Corey Kluber (sore neck) will be scratched from his scheduled start Friday against Toronto as a precautionary measure. Kluber, who suffered the injury in his last start against Oakland, has been tentatively rescheduled for Sunday against the Blue Jays. ... Francona said RHP Trevor Bauer will start Friday's game in Kluber's place and RHP Danny Salazar (sore right shoulder) will return from the disabled list to start Saturday.