Dodgers 2, Padres 1
Hanley Ramirez recorded two hits and scored a run while Hyun-Jin Ryu claimed his sixth victory in his last seven starts as Los Angeles won the rubber match of its three-game road set with San Diego.
Dee Gordon and Adrian Gonzalez each drove in a run for the Dodgers (42-35), who have won five of six to move a season-high seven games over .500. Ryu (9-3) matched a season low with two strikeouts but allowed only a run on four hits and a walk over six frames to improve to 2-0 with a 0.98 ERA in three career outings against the Padres.
Eric Stults (2-10) joined the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Brandon McCarthy as the only major leaguers to reach double digits in losses, dropping his fifth straight start and seventh consecutive decision despite yielding only two runs on six hits and three walks over a season-high seven innings. Chris Denorfia notched two hits and scored San Diego’s only run.
Ramirez singled with one out in the opening frame, stole second and advanced the third on a wild pitch by Stults before Gonzalez brought him home with a fielder’s choice. The Dodgers added another run with two outs in the second inning, when Gordon singled in Scott Van Slyke, but Denorfia limited the damage with a perfect one-hop throw from right to get A.J. Ellis at home.
Denorfia opened the sixth with a double and came around to score following consecutive groundouts by Everth Cabrera and Carlos Quentin, but the Padres could manage only a walk against relievers J.P. Howell and Brian Wilson in the seventh and eighth. Kenley Jansen, working for the third time in as many days, struck out the side in the ninth for his 22nd save.
GAME NOTEBOOK: San Diego dismissed executive vice president/general manager Josh Byrnes prior to the start of the game. The Padres announced that senior VP of baseball operations Omar Minaya will share the responsibilities of the position with assistant GMs A.J. Hinch and Fred Uhlman Jr. on an interim basis until a replacement is found. … The Dodgers have either won or split the last 11 series they have played in San Diego. … The Padres, who still are a major league-best 15-8 in one-run games despite the loss, scored fewer than two runs for the 10th time in 20 games this month.