Matt Kemp

By the time Matt Kemp bats in the last game of the regular season Wednesday night he hopes to be ready to enter some of the rarest territory in baseball. In a quiet way, Kemp catapulted himself toward a possible Triple Crown run with a productive September. But after a tough three-game series against the San Diego Padres over the weekend, Kemp's quest has become a lot more difficult. Although Kemp has a comfortable lead in RBIs (123) and has a one homer lead over St. Louis' Albert Pujols, the Dodgers' slugger has fallen 10 points behind Milwaukee's Ryan Braun and New York's...

Matt Treanor, Andre Ethier and James Loney homered to power Chris Capuano to his sixth victory, and the Los Angeles Dodgers won their fifth straight by beating the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-1 on Monday night. Capuano (6-1) allowed one run on four hits in six innings, striking out five and walking one. Treanor gave the Dodgers left-hander all the support he needed with his first home run of the season, a two-run shot off Patrick Corbin (2-3) in the second. Ethier's solo home run into the swimming pool area in right-center came off reliever Craig Breslow in the seventh and raised his...

Chase Headley homered, doubled and drove in three runs, and the last-place San Diego Padres rallied to beat the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers 4-2 Wednesday night, helping left-hander Clayton Richard snap his personal five-game losing streak. Richard and two relievers combined on a five-hitter as the Padres beat L.A. for only the second time in eight games this season. The Dodgers have lost two straight since Matt Kemp went on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left hamstring.

Except for one pitch, Patrick Corbin had a nice night against the Los Angeles Dodgers. But that pitch resulted in a two-run home run for Matt Treanor, and that was enough for Chris Capuano and the Dodgers, who beat Arizona 6-1 on Monday night for their fifth straight victory. "I was trying to get a fastball over," Corbin said. "He put a good swing on it and hit it out. That happens, but I felt like I kind of came back and worked ahead a lot better. I got some bad swings and got some groundballs and kept the team in the game.

With Magic Johnson and Frank McCourt watching from next to the dugout, the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres 5-3 Thursday even though reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw left after three innings with the flu. Former Lakers great Johnson, part of a group buying the Dodgers for $2.15 billion from McCourt, had a big smile after Matt Kemp hit a two-run homer in the eighth, giving him three RBIs. Johnson and McCourt sat next to each other and chatted throughout the game.

James Loney had five hits with three RBIs, Jerry Sands and Juan Rivera each drove in four runs, and the Los Angeles Dodgers routed the Pittsburgh Pirates 15-1 on Sunday. Loney's recorded his first five-hit game and Sands had a homer among his four hits, leading a 23-hit attack against eight Pittsburgh pitchers. Matt Kemp had three hits, including his 34th homer, and drove in two runs. The Dodgers' run total tied a season high and equaled the most the Pirates have allowed. Chad Billingsley (11-10)

Aaron Harang held his former team to four hits in seven shutout innings and had one of Los Angeles' 12 hits as the Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres 8-1 Thursday night to split a two-game series. The Dodgers (25-13), who have the best record in the majors, are 1-2 since Matt Kemp went on the disabled list with a strained left hamstring. The Padres (14-25), who have the worst record in the NL, still haven't won three straight games this season. They came in having won at Washington on Tuesday and against the Dodgers on Wednesday.

After struggling for much of the season, the Los Angeles Dodgers are cruising when it comes to postseason honors. Clayton Kershaw won his first NL Cy Young Award on Thursday, adding to the Gold Glove he won as the Dodgers collected three fielding awards in one year for the first time. "I always dreamed about playing in the big leagues. I never dreamed about doing anything special in the big leagues. I don't think any kid ever does," Kershaw said. "The people I'm now associated with, just by having this award, is something that I never thought...

MINNEAPOLIS — In the wake of a blowout loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Minnesota Twins focused on sending the NL club back to California with a pair of losses. Thanks to Scott Baker, they were able to achieve just that. Baker struck out nine while pitching into the eighth inning and Ben Revere had two hits to help the Twins win the three-game series with a 1-0 victory yesterday. Baker (6-5) gave up six hits and walked one in 7 ⅓ innings, dropping his ERA to 3.15.

Los Angeles Angels ace Jered Weaver had a lot of trouble locating his pitches. The Los Angeles Dodgers' hitters had no problem finding them. Juan Rivera hit his second homer of the spring and Justin Sellers also connected as the Dodgers chased Weaver in a 9-1 romp Monday. Rivera, who formerly played for the Angels, drove in four runs. His two-run double off Weaver highlighted a three-run first inning. Weaver, expected to start on opening day, gave up three runs on four hits and two walks in his second spring start.

Aaron Harang held his former team to four hits in seven shutout innings and had one of Los Angeles' 12 hits as the Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres 8-1 Thursday night to split a two-game series. The Dodgers (25-13), who have the best record in the majors, are 1-2 since Matt Kemp went on the disabled list with a strained left hamstring. The Padres (14-25), who have the worst record in the NL, still haven't won three straight games this season. They came in having won at Washington on Tuesday and against the Dodgers on Wednesday.

Chase Headley homered, doubled and drove in three runs, and the last-place San Diego Padres rallied to beat the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers 4-2 Wednesday night, helping left-hander Clayton Richard snap his personal five-game losing streak. Richard and two relievers combined on a five-hitter as the Padres beat L.A. for only the second time in eight games this season. The Dodgers have lost two straight since Matt Kemp went on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left hamstring.

Clayton Kershaw outpitched Ian Kennedy after exchanging brushback pitches with his fellow ace, leading the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 3-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday night without injured star Matt Kemp. The Dodgers center fielder was placed on the 15-day disabled list following the game because of a strained left hamstring. Kemp had played 399 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the majors. Andre Ethier homered in Kemp's absence as the Dodgers won their fifth straight.

Colorado's pitching staff walked 10 batters, all during a span of five innings, and six of them scored. Without those runs, the Rockies might have avoided a three-game sweep by the Los Angeles Dodgers. Alex White issued consecutive walks in the fifth to load the bases and Bobby Abreu followed with a three-run double, chasing the right-hander and putting the Dodgers ahead to stay. Matt Reynolds walked another later that inning, and A.J. Ellis made him pay with a three-run homer that helped Ted Lilly send the Rockies to an 11-5 loss on Sunday.

Perhaps 49-year-old Jamie Moyer is starting to feel his age. The Colorado Rockies' left-hander gave up five runs and seven hits over five innings Friday night in a 7-3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Moyer, who turns 50 in November, is winless in four starts with a 6.43 ERA since breaking former Dodger Jack Quinn's record as the oldest pitcher to win a major league game. "It is frustrating, but that's the game of baseball," the 25-year veteran said. "It's a pitch here, a pitch there, a hitter here, a hitter there, a base hit … it can change a game.

The Los Angeles Dodgers lost in unwanted fashion on Sunday, and they may also be down another infielder. Third baseman Jerry Hairston left the game in the second inning with a strained left hamstring and the Dodgers went on to lose to the Chicago Cubs 4-3 on a bases-loaded walk in the 11th inning. Cubs right fielder David DeJesus drew the winning walk to give Chicago the win after the teams waited out a 2-hour, 41-minute rain delay, and a ninth-inning comeback by the Cubs.

Rubby De La Rosa pitched five effective innings in his first career start and Dee Gordon had three hits in his first start, helping the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-2 Tuesday night. De La Rosa (2-0) allowed one run, constantly having to pitch out of trouble because he walked five and gave up four hits. Matt Kemp hit a two-run homer for the Dodgers, who’ve won six of nine. Roy Oswalt (3-4) lost his fourth straight decision. Oswalt allowed four runs and eight hits in six innings to remain winless since April 21. The NL East-leading Phillies have lost...

Paul Maholm pitched six crisp innings for his third consecutive win and the Chicago Cubs held on for a 5-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday. Maholm (3-2) allowed one run and three hits while improving to 1-5 with a 4.91 ERA in nine career starts against Los Angeles. The left-hander has won his last three outings after dropping his first two, allowing three runs over 18 1-3 innings during the streak. Matt Kemp hit a run-scoring triple and scored on Andre Ethier's sacrifice fly to get Los Angeles within one in the eighth.

Matt Kemp finished a memorable and historic April with his 12th home run for the Dodgers. But he also struck out with the bases loaded Monday night, helping to thwart a potential rally that enabled the Colorado Rockies to beat Los Angeles 6-2. Kemp homered in the first, driving Juan Nicasio's first pitch into the seats in right field for his 25th RBI. But he came up in the seventh with none out and the bases loaded and went down swinging against...