Josh Beckett put together a very impressive outing in his fifth win of the season going seven strong innings. Beckett gave up four hits to the Padres, but held them scoreless with his eight strikeouts. Beckett, the guy who had a rib removed at one point last year, has an ERA of 2.28. Beckett's ERA is the third best in the National League. Paul Maholm and Brandon League got the game to the ninth and put Kenley Jansen in position to record his 21st save of the season. Jansen, who blew the save last night in the Padres walk off win, gave up one hit and struck out one in his game sealing outing to give Los Angeles the 4-2 win.
The Dodgers scoring began in the third inning when Dee Gordon smoked an RBI single to center field to score Drew Butera. The Padres tried to get Gordon on a pitch out at second base but the speed from Gordon won as he moved to third on the throwing error, giving himself his league leading 39th stolen base. Hanley Ramirez drove in Gordon with a sacrifice fly ball, giving the Dodgers the 2-0 lead. Vin Scully noted that it sounded like Dodger stadium with the amount Dodger fans at Petco Park going wild. Ramirez knocked in his second RBI of the game in the fifth with a smash to center field to score Justin Turner. Turner also went two for four at the plate.
Adrian Gonzalez drove in Gordon in the eighth inning with a base hit to center, giving his team the 4-0 lead. Gonzalez finished the game 1 of 4 against his old team. The Padres cut the lead in half going into the ninth but the rally was put to an end and the Dodgers took the win. Yasiel Puig was back in the lineup after injuring his hip yesterday, stating that he would play through the pain. He finished the game 0-3 with a walk.
The Dodgers take game two of the series in San Diego, improving to 41-35. The series finale will be played on Sunday as Hyun-Jin Ryu seeks his ninth win of the season.