Dodgers 2, Padres 1
Pinch hitter Mark Ellis delivered a tiebreaking RBI single in the eighth and Chris Capuano tossed seven strong innings as Los Angeles edged visiting San Diego.
Carl Crawford added three hits for Los Angeles, which finished August with a 23-6 record and remained 10 1/2 games ahead of second-place Arizona in the National League West. Brian Wilson (1-0) worked a scoreless eighth inning for the win and Kenley Jansen struck out the side in the ninth for his 23rd save.
The Padres took an early lead in the fourth as Ronny Cedeno belted his first home run since April 24 off Capuano, who allowed one run and eight hits with seven strikeouts. San Diego's Andrew Cashner matched Capuano’s effort, yielding one run on 10 hits while striking out seven and throwing a season-high 119 pitches over seven frames.
Cashner ran into trouble in the seventh, when pinch hitter Jerry Hairston Jr. and Crawford led off the inning with consecutive singles before Adrian Gonzalez delivered a one-out RBI base hit.
The Dodgers pushed the winning run across in the eighth, when Skip Schumaker hit a leadoff double off Nick Vincent (3-2) before moving to third on Tim Federowicz’s sacrifice and scoring on Ellis’ single to center field. Jedd Gyorko had three hits for San Diego, which has lost four of its last five games.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The Dodgers acquired 3B Michael Young from Philadelphia for minor-league LHP Rob Rasmussen. … Padres 1B Yonder Alonso is expected to miss the next 7-10 days with soreness in his right hand. … San Diego activated OF Kyle Blanks from the 15-day disabled list and optioned RHP Anthony Bass to Triple-A Tucson.