Dodgers 9, Padres 2
Adrian Gonzalez blasted a pair of two-run homers against his former team as Los Angeles routed visiting San Diego in the opener of the three-game series.
Yasiel Puig went 4-for-5 and A.J. Ellis added a solo homer for the Dodgers, who improved to 22-6 in August and moved 10 1/2 games ahead of second-place Arizona in the National League West. Hanley Ramirez had two hits and sparked a five-run seventh inning with a two-run double off Anthony Bass.
The Padres took a brief lead in the second on Logan Forsythe’s RBI double off Hyun-Jin Ryu (13-5), who yielded one run and eight hits with six strikeouts over 6 1/3 innings in snapping a two-game losing streak. Ryu doubled in a run in the second and scored on a single by Puig.
Ramirez belted a leadoff double in the third before Gonzalez launched his 18th homer off Eric Stults (8-12), who surrendered four runs while throwing 110 pitches over 5 1/3 frames. Gonzalez, who played five seasons for San Diego, added another two-run shot in the seventh as he raised his career average against the Padres to .387 (36-for-93).
Puig, who was pulled from Wednesday’s win over the Chicago Cubs after four innings when manager Don Mattingly questioned his effort, had a double among his four hits along with two stolen bases. Chris Denorfia went 2-for-5 with an RBI and Alexi Amarista also recorded two hits for San Diego, which fell to 7-7 against the Dodgers this season.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Padres 3B Chase Headley missed his second straight game with back stiffness and remains day-to-day. … Dodgers OF Matt Kemp played seven innings and went 0-for-3 on Friday in his second minor-league rehab game with High-A Rancho Cucamonga. … RHP Edinson Volquez, who was released by the Padres on Tuesday, made his Dodgers debut and tossed a scoreless eighth inning.