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Haren, Crawford lead Dodgers over Padres

Sep 11, 2014 - 5:38 AM Los Angeles, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Dan Haren's seven scoreless innings and Carl Crawford's four hits paved the way for the Los Angeles Dodgers' 4-0 victory over the San Diego Padres in the rubber match of a three-game series.

Haren (13-10) yielded just four hits and a walk while striking out five in another tremendous start of late for the righty, now 3-0 with a minuscule 0.69 ERA over his last four assignments.

"I feel good and my stuff is working," said Haren. "I had good rhythm with (catcher) A.J. (Ellis) and kept them off-balance. I'm minimizing my mistakes."

Crawford doubled three times and knocked in a pair of runs in the Dodgers' fifth win in six games. Juan Uribe and Justin Turner each collected two hits, with Uribe contributing an RBI single.

Los Angeles maintained a 2 1/2-game lead on the Giants for first place in the National League West heading into a crucial three-game series between the rivals in San Francisco that begins Friday.

San Diego mustered just four hits total in falling for the seventh time in its last eight. Ian Kennedy (10-13) allowed three runs and 10 hits over six-plus innings to absorb the loss.

Handed a 1-0 lead when Matt Kemp singled in the second inning and raced home from first on Crawford's double off the wall in left center, Haren made it stick by working out of a jam in the fourth and holding the Padres' bats in check over the next three frames.

The Padres had a golden opportunity in the fourth, as Seth Smith reached on an error by Turner and Jedd Gyorko followed with a double to put runners on second and third with nobody out. Haren was up to the challenge, however, getting Yasmani Grandal to pop out harmlessly and fanning Rene Rivera before Will Venable grounded out to end the threat.

San Diego mustered just one more hit off Haren, who completed his stint by retiring 11-of-12 hitters after Gyorko's double.

"Starting pitching sets the tone. Dan was good tonight," Padres manager Bud Black remarked.

Kennedy was able to keep it a one-run game until the bottom of the sixth, which began with back-to-back singles by Turner and Adrian Gonzalez. Though Kemp bounced into a double play -- the third turned by the Padres on the night -- Hanley Ramirez came through with a two-out hit to bring in Turner for a 2-0 edge.

Los Angeles tacked on an insurance run an inning later when Crawford doubled and came home on Uribe's single to left.

Crawford's third double of the evening, a hard liner down the right-field line off Tim Stauffer in the eighth, plated Darwin Barney for the game's final run.

"I'm just trying to have good at-bats," said Crawford. 'I work on hitting the breaking ball, it's becoming natural for me."

Game Notes

Kemp's single in the second inning extended his hitting streak to 16 games ... Haren's victory gave the Dodgers four pitchers with at least 13 wins this season, the first time that's happened in team history since 1985 (Orel Hershiser, Fernando Valenzuela, Jerry Reuss, Bob Welch) ... Kennedy fell to 0-5 in his last nine starts against the Dodgers, having last bested L.A. while with Arizona on Sept. 11, 2012 ... The game wrapped up the season series between the clubs, with Los Angeles going 12-7 and taking seven of the 10 matchups held at Dodger Stadium.