Matt Kemp hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the seventh inning to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to their fifth straight win with Friday’s 4-3 victory over the San Diego Padres.
Andre Ethier continued his torrid May with a pair of hits and an RBI and Manny Ramirez drove in a run for the Dodgers, who moved to within four games of their first-place counterparts.
Trailing by a run entering the seventh, Russell Martin doubled with one out before Kemp blasted a shot to deep center off Luke Gregerson (0-1) that bounced off the glove of outfielder Tony Gwynn, who had climbed the fence in hopes of robbing the home run.
The blast made a winner of Jeff Weaver (2-1), who worked one perfect inning as five relief pitchers combined for five scoreless frames. Jonathan Broxton didn’t allow a base-runner in the ninth for his fifth save.
The Padres took a 3-2 lead in the fifth on Chase Headley’s fielder’s choice. They had two other leads prior on Adrian Gonzalez’s first-inning homer and Wil Venable’s run-scoring single in the third to make it 2-1.
Ethier’s double to deep right-center in the fifth narrowly missed clearing the fence, but scored Kemp for a game-tying double.
David Eckstein had three hits for San Diego, which snapped a three-game winning streak.