Dodgers 8, Padres 4

The Dodgers continue their recent streak of good playing, winning their fourth game in a row and second series in a row.

Clayton Kershaw got the win, he's 3-5. Cha Seung Baek took the loss, he's 4-9.

Clayton Kershaw pitched a better game than his final line shows. He went seven innings, giving up three runs, on three hits and three walks, while striking out six. He actually had only given up one run going into the 8th inning, but walked two batters to start the 8th before being pulled. Ramon Troncoso gave up two hits and three runs, two of which were attributed to Kershaw, one to Troncoso. Joe Beimel came in and pitched two scoreless innings to close out the game.

The Dodgers had a good game offensively, led by Andre Ethier. He went 3-4, falling a double short of the cycle. He singled in the 1st, tripled in the 3rd, and homered in the 6th. He also drew a walk, collected an RBI, and scored four runs in the game. Manny Ramírez went 1-3, with a homerun, a sac-fly, three RBIs, and a run scored. James Loney went 2-4 with two RBIs. Blake DeWitt went 2-2, with two walks, and an RBI and a run scored (coming on a solo homerun).

The Diamondbacks lost to the Cardinals, so with the win, the Dodgers move to within 1.5 games of the NL West lead. They Dodgers will try to sweep the Padres in game three tomorrow, starting at 7:10 L.A. time.

Also: With the win, the Dodgers move back to within one game of .500 (69-70)... James Loney's two hits extended his hitting streak to 13 games. He has also gotten multiple hits in his last four straight games... Loney's two RBIs in the game gives him a team leading 76 on the season... Andre Ethier's homerun was his team leading 19th for the year.

Opinion: Another good win to keep the win streak going. Not too much to say about the game. I'm a little worried about Ramon Troncoso. He has streaks where he pitches excellent. In fact, from July 28th to August 27th, Troncoso made 10 appearances, going a combined 12 and 1/3 innings and giving up only one run. Since then, he's made two appearances and given up four runs (and two to Clayton Kershaw). Luckily, we probably won't have to rely on him in important situations. I'm just saying, I'm not sure whether or not he should be in any long term plans in the bullpen. Speaking of long team plans, how about Andre Ethier? He's really coming into his own. I really hope to see him in our long term plans in either left or right field. Anyway, that's all, let's get that sweep tomorrow and head into the Arizona series with some serious momentum.