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Headley, Richard lead Padres over Dodgers

May 17, 2012 - 3:24 AM San Diego, CA (Sports Network) - Chase Headley went 2-for-3 with three RBI and Clayton Richard pitched seven solid innings, as the San Diego Padres took down the Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-2, in the opener of a two-game series.

Headley recorded a solo homer and a two-run double for the Padres, who have won two in a row since a two-game skid. Cameron Maybin added an RBI.

Richard (2-5) gave up two runs on four hits and retired the final 11 batters he faced. The left-hander, who had lost five straight starts, struck out six with zero walks.

"When you eliminate free passes and putting people on base yourself, you give yourself a better chance to succeed," said Richard. "That's no secret."

Andre Ethier and Elian Herrera both drove in a run for the Dodgers, who have dropped two in a row since a five-game winning streak.

Chris Capuano (5-1) allowed four runs -- three earned -- on six hits over 6 1/3 frames to suffer his first loss of the season. The 33-year-old was trying to post the best start of his injury-plagued eight-year career.

"For the most part I felt pretty good," said Capuano. "I just got in trouble when I got the ball up a little bit."

The Dodgers scored their only two runs in the first inning. Tony Gwynn Jr. led off with a single and raced home on Herrera's double down the left field line. Herrera moved to third on Bobby Abreu's groundout and scored on Ethier's sacrifice fly.

San Diego got one run back in the home half of the frame on Headley's homer to left.

The Padres plated two more runs off Capuano in the sixth. Maybin reached first on an infield single and Chris Denorfia followed with a single to center. Headley knocked in both runners with a double to left-center field, giving San Diego a 3-2 lead.

The home team added another run in the seventh after Orlando Hudson led off with a single. Two batters later, Andy Parrino reached base on a bunt that Capuano failed to handle cleanly. Pinch-hitter Yonder Alonso followed with a walk to load the bases with one out. Javy Guerra came in from the bullpen and walked Maybin to force in a run. Guerra, though, retired the next two batters to keep it a 4-2 game.

After Andrew Cashner pitched a scoreless eighth, Dale Thayer came on in the ninth to close out the game. After Abreu reached base on a one-out single, Ethier hit a fly ball down the left-field line, where James Darnell came racing in and made a nice diving catch for the second out. Thayer then got pinch-hitter James Loney to foul out for his fourth save of the season.

Game Notes

The Dodgers have still taken six of eight from the Padres this season...Capuano struck out six and walked three. He was trying to tie his career-long winning streak of seven games, accomplished from June 19-July 31, 2005...Richard improved to 6-1 against the Dodgers in 10 lifetime meetings...Herrera's double in the first inning was his first career hit in the big leagues.