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Dodgers beat Arizona 3-1 in Joe Torre's finale

Oct 4, 2010 - 1:19 AM By BETH HARRIS AP Sports Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Joe Torre ended his managerial career the way it began 29 years ago - with a victory.

Matt Kemp homered in his fifth consecutive game and the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-1 in their season finale Sunday.

"I guess that last out sort of makes things pretty definite," said Torre, sitting behind a desk decorated with pictures of family and famous faces from his career.

Torre called former Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax earlier in the day, a Hall of Famer he faced during his playing days.

The Dodgers won seven of their last 10 games to finish fourth in the NL West with an 80-82 record - their first losing mark since 2005 - in Torre's third season in Los Angeles. He led them to the playoffs his first two years.

"Thanks JOE!" read a hand-lettered towel held up by a fan in the upper level.

Torre won the first game he managed with the New York Mets in 1977. In between, he won six pennants and four World Series titles, all with the New York Yankees. The 70-year-old is fifth on the career wins list.

Torre finished with a 2,326-1,997 regular-season record, going 259-227 in three years with the Dodgers. He turns things over to hitting coach Don Mattingly, who has been promoted to manager for next season.

"This is a tough act to follow," said Mattingly, who has no big league managerial experience.

Ted Lilly (10-12) allowed one run and four hits, struck out nine and walked two to reach 10 victories for the eighth consecutive season. The left-hander went 7-4 in 12 starts with the Dodgers after being acquired in a trade-deadline deal with the Cubs.

"I was a little more nervous than I'd been," Lilly said, noting the emotion surrounding the retirements of Torre and catcher Brad Ausmus. "I definitely felt the importance of that."

Hong-Chih Kuo pitched the ninth to earn his 12th save in 13 chances.

Ausmus caught the 1,938th and final game of his career, having spent his last two years playing for Torre. The 40-year-old retired after 18 big league seasons, getting two hits in his final game.

"I felt like it was time. I'm ready to move on to non-playing things," he said.

Rodrigo Lopez (7-16) gave up two runs and three hits in five innings, struck out six and walked three to lose his second in a row.

Lopez caught on with the Diamondbacks out of spring training after being signed as a minor league free agent last year.

"Staying with the team and being able to pitch every five days, it was hard to believe," he said. "For some reason, I was able to pitch every five days and that was a really good accomplishment for me and I'm very proud of it."

The Diamondbacks finished last in the NL West with a 65-97 record under interim manager Kirk Gibson.

"We pushed hard. We know we've got work to do," he said. "I hope it's a learning lesson for these guys. I hope they take something from it that will be beneficial for them and whatever team they may be on to be successful and reap the fruits of victory."

Kemp gave the Dodgers a 2-0 lead with two outs in the first inning, homering into the left-field pavilion. He finished with a career-high 28 homers.

"Finally," Kemp said. "I wish I would've done it a little bit earlier."

The Diamondbacks made it 2-1 in the fourth on Gerardo Parra's two-out single that scored Rusty Ryal, who doubled to lead off.

Andre Ethier's bases-loaded RBI single extended the Dodgers' lead to 3-1 in the seventh. Ryan Theriot was tagged out at the plate, while Jamey Carroll and Ethier moved up on the throw.

Notes: Dodgers SS Rafael Furcal struck out in his only at-bat. ... Kemp played in all 162 games this season, extending his major league-leading streak to 203 games. ... Arizona finished 5-13 against the Dodgers, including 2-7 in Los Angeles. ... INF John Lindsey, called up after 16 years in the minors only to get his hand broken after 12 at-bats, escorted Torre to the plate with the lineup card. In the seventh, he was introduced as a pinch-hitter before being replaced. ... Diamondbacks RHP Aaron Heilman came on in the eighth, becoming the only pitcher with 70 or more appearances in each of the last five seasons. ... The Dodgers' season attendance totaled 3,562,320.