Sat Apr 12 02:36:48 2008

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Padres beat Dodgers

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Los Angeles, CA (Sports Network) - Tadahito Iguchi went 2-for-5 with two runs driven in and one scored as the San Diego Padres downed the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-5, in the opener of a three-game set.

Kevin Kouzmanoff went 3-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored and Josh Bard added two hits, one run scored and an RBI for the Padres, who had dropped three of four coming into the game. Jake Peavy (3-0) gave up just three runs on nine hits in six innings of work to grab the win.

"I couldn't be more happy with the outcome of this game," said Peavy. "I had nothing but I battled and got a win anyway. Give credit to our hitters, they got a lot of hits."

James Loney hit a solo home run while Rafael Furcal went 3-for-3 with three runs scored for the Dodgers, who have dropped their last four games. Brad Penny (1-2) got the loss as he was charged with four runs on 10 hits in six innings of work.

"We need to get a hit early and keep the lead," said Dodgers manager Joe Torre.

The Dodgers took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning. Furcal led off the inning with a bunt single and moved to second on a Juan Pierre single. A wild pitch moved the runners up a base and Andre Ethier's sacrifice fly scored Furcal.

Los Angeles scored another run in the third to take a 2-0 lead. Furcal started the frame with a double and moved up a base on an infield single from Pierre. Ethier then grounded out to first, allowing Furcal to cross the plate.

San Diego, though, exploded for four runs in the fourth inning to grab the advantage. With runners on first and second and one out, Josh Bard punched a single to left that plated Jim Edmonds. After Peavy bunted into a fielder's choice, Brian Giles knocked a single to right to score Bard. Iguchi then banged a single that allowed Peavy to cross the plate and Adrian Gonzalez completed the scoring with a single to score Giles for a 4-2 lead.

Los Angeles got a run back in the sixth as Loney hit a one-out, solo homer over the right field wall to cut the deficit to 4-3.

The Padres got the run back in the seventh on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Khalil Greene that scored Kouzmanoff.

The Dodgers again made it a one-run game in the bottom of the seventh as Furcal hit a one-out triple and Pierre's suicide squeeze bunt allowed Furcal to cross the plate to make it a 5-4 contest.

However, the Padres plated another two runs in the eighth for a 7-4 lead. Tony Clark hit a pinch-hit single and Calliz Crabbe came in to run for Clark. As Giles struck out swinging, Crabbe stole second and Iguchi followed with a single to right that scored Crabbe. After Gonzalez worked a walk, Kouzmanoff punched a single to center that scored Iguchi.

Trevor Hoffman stepped onto the mound in the ninth inning to close things out, but got into trouble. With runners on first and second and two outs, Pierre knocked a single to center to score Blake DeWitt and Ethier followed with an infield single to load the bases. However, Hoffman got Jeff Kent to strike out swinging and pick up his third save of the season.

Game Notes

San Diego had 16 hits in the game, all but one were singles...Peavy is 11-1 lifetime against the Dodgers, including nine straight wins...Penny is 3-8 against the Padres in his career...Hoffman has 62 saves against the Dodgers, the most against any team in his career...Attendance was 54,052.