The Dodgers could only muster four hits off Padres’ starter Randy Wolf and had a total of just five on the night, with one run, in the 1-4 loss.
The lone Dodger run came in the fourth after already being down 0-3. Andy LaRoche drove a solo shot to left, his first homerun in his AB this year and just his second in the big leagues. He played first in place of James Loney, who did enter to pinch hit in the ninth but grounded out to snap his hit streak at nine games. The offense went 0 for 7 with RISP, including having a man on third with just one out in the sixth, and were fanned nine times by Wolf, including 3 K’s for Matt Kemp.
Chad Billingsley struggled in the first few innings, but regained command after that. He allowed a solo homerun in both the first and second innings before falling to be down 3-0 in the third when Padres’ starter Randy Wolf singled and came around to score. Billingsley gave up another in the seventh before leaving after that inning. He took his seventh loss and is now winless since May 20. Hong-Chih Kuo threw a hitless eighth with 2 K’s.
The Dodgers, still sitting 3 games under .500 and 3 1/2 behind the Dbacks, send Hiroki Kuroda to the mound to go for the series win. Kuroda’s battery mate will be Danny Ardoin for the third time. The duo has given Kuroda an ERA under 1 in their three outings together, including the last outing, a four-hit shutout against the Cubs. They will face Padres ace Jake Peavy, who has been on the DL and hasn’t made a start in almost a month. Peavy is 4-3 with a 2.91 ERA this season.
