Padres 1 - 4 Dodgers
Final
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Ethier powers Dodgers past Padres

Jul 10, 2011 - 11:54 PM Los Angeles, CA (Sports Network) - Andre Ethier clubbed two home runs while Ted Lilly and the Dodgers' bullpen held the San Diego Padres to one run in a 4-1 win to complete a three-game sweep.

Matt Kemp drove in a run for the Dodgers, who swept the Padres for the first time since May 14-16 of last year and have won a season-high four consecutive games.

Lily (6-9) allowed four hits and one run over five innings while five pitchers from the bullpen sewed up the win, combining to surrender just two hits over four scoreless frames.

Rob Johnson's solo homer in the third made up the lone run for the Padres, who have lost five straight.

Starter Tim Stauffer (5-6) was charged with the loss after giving up three runs -- two earned -- on three hits and five walks.

"Hopefully it will be an aberration," Padres manager Bud Black said of Stauffer's tough-luck start. "But on a positive note, he kept us in the game without his best stuff."

The two teams are in the cellar of the NL West heading into the All-Star break. With Sunday's win, LA has a 41-51 record, just one game ahead of the last-placed Padres.

Johnson put San Diego on the board with a leadoff homer in the third, but the Dodgers responded.

During the bottom half of the inning, Stauffer couldn't find the strike zone and walked the first three batters he saw. With the bases loaded, Kemp hit a grounder to third. Chase Headley made a diving catch but threw wildly to home that allowed Tony Gwynn Jr. and Rafael Furcal to score.

Ethier added a solo home run in the fifth to make it a 3-1 game and he skied another homer in the eighth to give LA a three-run cushion.

"I'm looking for consistency, not just hitting in spurts," Ethier said.

Meanwhile, the Padres, who have scored just two runs in the last 44 innings, could not find any offense during the last six frames. Kenley Jansen, Hong- Chih Kuo, Matt Guerrier, Mike MacDougal and Javy Guerra all came out of the bullpen for the Dodgers to shut San Diego down. Guerra pitched a scoreless ninth to get his fourth save of the season.

Game Notes

It was Ethier's 11th multi-home run game of his career, first since May 2, 2010...Stauffer tossed his seventh consecutive quality start, but fell to 4-2 over his past seven starts...The Dodgers announced before the game that infielder Juan Castro retired and will join the club's front office as special assistant for baseball operations and player development. Castro, 39, collected four hits in 15 at-bats over seven games this season with the Dodgers, his 17th major-league campaign...Both teams combined to go 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position and left 13 men on base.






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