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Baek, Padres stop streaking Dodgers

Sep 9, 2008 - 5:39 AM By Tim Powers PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

SAN DIEGO (Ticker) -- Cha Seung Baek pitched seven solid innings and the San Diego Padres beat a familiar foe as they blanked the Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-0, in the opener of a three-game series on Monday.

Adrian Gonzalez hit a two-run homer in the first inning against former teammate Greg Maddux as the Padres snapped the first-place Dodgers' eight-game winning streak.

Los Angeles (73-71) leads the Arizona Diamondbacks (71-72) by one-and-a-half games in the National League West standings.

Baek (5-9) gave up three hits and did not allow a runner to advance past second base as he earned his first career win at Petco Park in 10 starts. The 28-year-old Korean righthander struck out two and walked two batters.

"Finally," Baek said of his victory at home. "My last game in LA, I gave up a lot of home runs. I left most of the balls up. This time, the balls were down and the changeup was down. It's always big to win."

Heath Bell worked a perfect eighth before Mike Adams worked around a leadoff double to retire the side in the ninth and secure the win for San Diego.

"In simple terms, (Baek) made a heck of a lot more (good) pitches," Padres manager Bud Black said. "That was effective. He had good velocity where he just reared back and let it go."

After Brian Giles led off the game with a double on Maddux's first pitch, Gonzalez belted an opposite-field home run over the left field fence to stake Baek with a 2-0 advantage.

"It's a home run just like any other home run," Gonzalez said. "I saw a ball that started up and my instincts were to go after it because it was up in the zone. It ended up being a changeup that stayed up enough that I was able to get the barrel on it."

San Diego tacked on insurance runs against Maddux in the third and fifth innings, with both runs driven in by Kevin Kouzmanoff.

Maddux (7-12) allowed four runs on seven hits over six innings and fell to 1-3 since the Dodgers acquired him in a trade with San Diego last month.

"I was just missing most pitches, just barely," Maddux said. "(Gonzalez) got me and (Baek) threw a good game. You hate to tip your hat this late in the year, but you've pretty much got to."

Andre Ethier collected three hits for the Dodgers, who, despite their recent hot streak, have dropped 11 of 13 games on the road.

"I'm not really concerned," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. "We don't seem to be bothered by the road. We need to get it straightened out. If we're going to win this thing, we're going to have to certainly win on the road and find a way to do it."