LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Dodgers’ offense continued to slumber, giving the perfect chance for an old friend to step in and do some damage.
Former Dodger Matt Kemp gave the San Diego Padres the lead for good with a three-run home run in the eighth inning to power a 5-1 victory for his club on Friday. The Dodgers have now lost five consecutive games, all coming to start the current seven-game homestand.
Kemp, a former Dodgers mainstay, powered his 105th Dodger Stadium home run into the home team’s bullpen in left field, adding more weight to the shoulders of struggling right-hander Chris Hatcher.
Hatcher started the season as the Dodgers’ setup man, and in less than a month he has compiled an 8.44 ERA and already has stumbled in a number of high-profile situations. The Dodgers wasted a solid start from Alex Wood, who gave up one run on five hits over seven innings with nine strikeouts.
The Dodgers did nothing against Padres starter Cesar Vargas, who delivered 5 1/3 scoreless innings. He was removed, though, after throwing 90 pitches, and five pitches into the relief outing of Brad Hand, Yasmani Grandal hit a home run for the Dodgers.
It was the first home run of the season for the switch-hitting Grandal and it came batting right-handed. Only one of his 16 home runs last season came right-handed.
The Dodgers opened the season with three consecutive shutouts of the Padres and extended their scoreless streak against their NL West rivals to 32 innings before San Diego scored a run in the fourth inning Friday. It was tied for the Dodgers’ sixth-longest scoreless streak against an opponent in club history.
