Ramirez, Ethier lead Dodgers over Padres, 8-4

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Manny Ramirez homered and drove in three runs and the resurgent Los Angeles Dodgers closed in on Arizona in the NL West with an 8-4 win over the San Diego Padres on Tuesday night.

Andre Ethier had three hits including a homer, and rookie Clayton Kershaw allowed a run and three hits in seven innings to help the Dodgers win their fourth straight and reduce the Diamondbacks' NL West lead to 1 1/2 games.

The four wins come after an eight-game losing streak.

Kershaw, who struck out six, was pulled after walking his first two batters in the eighth. Both runners scored when Ramon Troncoso gave up an RBI double to Luis Rodriguez and a two-run single to Kevin Kouzmanoff, slashing the Padres' deficit to 8-4. But lefty Joe Beimel retired the next three batters and pitched a scoreless ninth to end it.

Ramirez, moved down to third in the order last week because of Jeff Kent's ailing left knee, opened the scoring in the first with a home run into the pavilion seats in left-center after a single by Ethier.

Ramirez's 520th career home run put him one behind Ted Williams, Willie McCovey and injured Oakland A's DH Frank Thomas, who are tied for 17th place. The 12-time All-Star has 30 this season, 10 since the trade that sent him from Boston to Los Angeles on July 31.

The next time Ramirez came up, after Ethier's leadoff triple in the third, Baek's first pitch to the 12-time All-Star sent Ramirez bailing out of the batter's box. Umpire Jerry Meals immediately issued a warning to both dugouts.

The Padres didn't get their first hit until Chase Headley singled leading off the fifth. San Diego has lost eight straight road games.

Ethier, whose wife Maggie is expecting the couple's first child this month, hit his team-high 19th homer and scored three runs. He came up in the eighth needing a double to join Wes Parker as the only Dodgers to hit for the cycle since the franchise moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles in 1958. But Ethier grounded out to second.

Cha Seung Baek (4-9) lost his fourth straight decision. The right-hander made 71 pitches in just 3 2-3 innings, giving up seven runs and eight hits in his first career start against the Dodgers.

Kershaw (3-5) was recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas to make this start after major league rosters were expanded to a maximum of 40 players on Monday. The 20-year-old left-hander had been winless in his previous four starts.

James Loney extended his hitting streak to 13 games with two hits, including a two-run single that chased Baek in the fourth. Russell Martin greeted Dirk Hayhurst with an RBI single for a 7-0 lead.

Kent, who is on the disabled list for the eighth time in his big league career, underwent arthroscopic surgery on his knee early Tuesday morning. Trainer Stan Conte said the outpatient procedure to clean out debris from the cartilage tear took 20 minutes, adding that no additional problems were discovered.

Notes:@ Dodgers CF Juan Pierre pulled up while running out a grounder to third in the seventh inning and left the game. ... Ramirez reached the 30-homer mark for the 12th time. The only players who have done it more often were Hank Aaron (15), Barry Bonds (14), Babe Ruth (13) and Mike Schmidt (13). ... Ramirez has 1,701 RBIs, one behind Reggie Jackson for 21st place all-time and one away from his 12th 100-RBI campaign. The record is 13, shared by Lou Gehrig and Jimmie Foxx. ... Ambres joined the Padres Tuesday after his contract was purchased from Triple-A Portland. C Luke Carlin also was promoted from the PCL club. ... Loney is the Dodgers' representative among the 30 finalists — one from each team — for the Roberto Clemente Award. The Padres' finalist is closer Trevor Hoffman. The only Dodger to win it was Steve Garvey in 1981, and the only Padres player was Tony Gwynn in 1999. The award is presented annually to the MLB player who combines outstanding skills on the baseball field with devoted work in the community.

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