LOS ANGELES – Logan Forsythe hit a two-run single with the bases loaded in the 11th inning after Yasmani Grandal tied the score with a two-run homer in the eighth, and the San Diego Padres beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-3 Tuesday night.
The Dodgers wasted an excellent outing from ace Clayton Kershaw and dropped 1½ games behind St. Louis in the race for the second NL wild card.
John Ely (0-1), working his second inning of relief, gave up a leadoff single to Cameron Maybin in the 11th. Everth Cabrera followed with a bunt single, and both runners took an extra base on third baseman Luis Cruz's throwing error to first.
Will Venable was intentionally walked with one out before Forsythe lined a 1-2 pitch to right-center. Chase Headley followed with an RBI single.
Padres rookie Tommy Layne (1-0) pitched a perfect inning for his first major league win, striking out Adrian Gonzalez, Matt Kemp and Hanley Ramirez on 13 pitches. Luke Gregerson got three outs for his fourth save.
The Padres tied it 3-all in the eighth against right-hander Matt Guerrier when Headley led off with a single and Grandal drove a 1-0 pitch to right-center for his seventh home run.
Guerrier had been limited to 8 2-3 innings all season due to elbow tendinitis. He took the loss last Friday night against Arizona when he served up a leadoff homer in the 11th inning to Jason Kubel in his first appearance since April 18.
Kershaw pitched seven sharp innings and reached the 200-strikeout mark for the third straight season despite giving up a home run to Chris Denorfia on his first pitch of the game. The reigning NL Cy Young Award winner was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the seventh, when the Dodgers took a 3-1 lead with Shane Victorino's RBI single and Gonzalez's sacrifice fly.
Andre Ethier homered in support of Kershaw, who allowed five hits, struck out nine and walked three. The left-hander raised his season strikeout total to 201, joining Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Fernando Valenzuela and Hideo Nomo as the only Dodgers pitchers to whiff 200 or more batters in at least three consecutive seasons since the franchise relocated from Brooklyn to Los Angeles in 1958.
Padres starter Eric Stults allowed a run and seven hits in six innings against his former team.
Denorfia's homer deep into the left-field pavilion was his sixth this season and third leading off a game. It was only the second time in Kershaw's 145 career starts that he gave up a home run to his first batter. Philadelphia's Jimmy Rollins did it on Sept. 1, 2010.
Ethier tied it in the second with his 17th homer and third in four games, including a tying shot in the ninth inning against Gregerson on Monday.
NOTES: The Dodgers announced that closer Kenley Jansen, sidelined since Aug. 28 because of heart arrhythmia, will continue taking blood thinners for 10 more days with the hope of pitching again by Sept. 18 at the earliest. A club spokesman said Jansen might undergo a surgical procedure in the offseason — a cardiac ablation — which is designed to deaden scar tissue and change the heartbeat rate. Longtime team physician Frank Jobe, 87, had the same procedure 10 years ago and said Saturday that it saved his life. ... Dodgers RHP Chad Billingsley, who was 6-0 with a 1.80 ERA in his previous seven starts before landing on the DL with inflammation in his elbow, is scheduled to receive a second platelet rich plasma (PRP) injection on Tuesday. ... Headley was chosen NL player of the month for August after batting .308 with 10 homers and 31 RBIs — becoming the first Padres player to win the award since Tony Gwynn in May 1997. ... The Dodgers' bullpen took another hit when RHP Javy Guerra was placed on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to Sept. 3, because of a left oblique strain. RHP Josh Wall was recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque. ... The Padres promoted RHP Brad Boxberger and INF Andy Parrino from Triple-A Tucson and C Ali Solis from Double-A San Antonio. RHP Anthony Bass was reinstated from the 60-day DL. C Eddy Rodriguez and RHP Ross Ohlendorf were designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for Solis and Bass.
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