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Apr 30, 2016 - 6:59 AM Ross Stripling has been plenty hittable since being pulled from an active no-hitter in his major league debut, but that's not stopping him from at least keeping the slumping Los Angeles Dodgers in games.

A return to that early-April magic couldn't hurt as the right-hander takes a fifth shot at his first big league win Saturday night against the visiting San Diego Padres, who no longer have a lengthy losing streak in the series weighing them down.

Stripling (0-1, 3.22 ERA) limited San Francisco to a run and no hits in 7 1/3 innings of a 3-2 loss and no-decision on April 8 but was pulled after four walks and 100 pitches. He's since posted a 4.20 ERA and .306 opponent batting average in three starts and took his first decision in Monday's 3-2 home loss to Miami after giving up three runs and eight hits with three walks in 5 1/3 innings. The Dodgers won his previous two starts.

"They hit a lot of hard balls tonight. I think that showed that I wasn't as sharp as I typically am," Stripling told MLB's official website after stretching out to 107 pitches against the Marlins. "I really didn't throw any good curveballs on the night. ... I just battled. Last two starts, it feels like every inning has been a battle from the first pitch. I've been able to get out of some, others not so much."

Colin Rea got that first big league win out of the way last year but the right-hander has struggled a little more than his counterpart this season. Rea (1-1, 5.06) gave up three runs and seven hits in five innings of Sunday's 8-5 loss to St. Louis but escaped the decision. He has gone beyond five innings once in four starts yet thrown at least 90 pitches in each.

"We had a long first inning, with deep counts," Rea said. "Our bullpen shouldn't be out there in the sixth inning. I should still be out there. I let the team down in that aspect."

He started against the Dodgers once last season and pitched an inning of relief in the first week this year with Joc Pederson going 2 for 4 with a double.

The Padres (8-15) ended their losing streak to the Dodgers (12-12) at nine with Friday's series-opening 5-1 victory, which also ended their five-game overall skid. San Diego can now secure its first series win in Los Angeles since a three-game sweep from April 15-17, 2013. It's gone 7-19 since.

Matt Kemp was 2 for 4 with a tiebreaking three-run homer in the eighth inning and a double, leaving the yard for a second straight game. Kemp is batting .385 in his last six and .320 in 20 games against his old club. Alexei Ramirez also had two hits and is 9 for 19 in the last five games.

Los Angeles would love that offense at the moment, having scored nine runs while batting .182 on a five-game losing streak. Adrian Gonzalez is 0 for 13 on the streak, Yasiel Puig is 1 for 16 in the last four and Carl Crawford is 1 for 12 in five games around his injury layoff.

"Less than a week ago, we were feeling OK, but once we came home, the Marlins pitchers threw some good games," manager Dave Roberts said. "I think the at-bat quality needs to get better."

The Dodgers haven't lost six straight since an eight-game skid from May 1-10, 2013. The current slide has come entirely at home, which they haven't topped since a six-gamer from June 1-18, 2011 as Kemp was on his way to finishing second in the NL MVP race.