Dan Haren struggled a bit from the mound and was pulled after four innings in which he gave up four runs on six hits. Haren struck out five Padres batters and walked two. Haren fell to 8-6 on the year in the 6-3 loss. Haren’s pitch count was up to 96, a big reason for the early exit. 56 of those pitches were strikes. Chris Perez pitched a scoreless inning before the Padres struck for two runs off of Jamey Wright. J.P. Howell and Kenley Jansen combined for two scoreless innings to finish off the game and put the Dodgers in position for a rally in the ninth down by three.
Matt Kemp ripped an RBI single into left field scoring Yasiel Puig for the 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Carl Crawford entered the game after spending some time on the DL, pinch hitting and then replacing Kemp in left field. Crawford, who is making $21 million this year, has had an average season in a crowded Dodger outfield. He finished his pinch hitting night hitless in two attempts, including grounding out into an inning ending double play. The Dodgers fell behind 6-2 before scoring two in the seventh. Puig’s stand up double drove in Drew Butera, cutting into the lead. Puig finished the night 2-4 at the plate with an RBI. Puig was the only Dodger to have a multi-hit game. All-Star Dee Gordon scored on a sacrifice fly ball from Adrian Gonzalez, one that also saw Puig tagged out to end the inning 6-3. Los Angeles left nine batters on base, recording only six total hits.
The Dodgers starter is yet to be determined with Josh Beckett heading to the DL. The boys in blue remain a half-game ahead of the Giants for first place, who have lost 15 of their last 19 at home. The Dodgers and Padres will play two more games against one another before the All-Star break.