| Joe Gutierrez. 30th April, 2006 - 3:57 am
 The San Diego Padres are showing a side of baseball play they better hide before it’s too late. Brett Tomko’s struggles against San Diego ended for now after he went seven strong innings, giving up two runs. The Dodgers met another good quality pitcher in Clay Hensley, who gave up three runs to LA, going seven innings as well.
The Padres lack of effort so far this season was well documented by the Dodgers upon entering the series. Los Angeles took advantage of it and were able to beat San Diego, in a score of 4-2. The dimension of Petco Park made life difficult for RF J.D. Drew on a triple by 3B Mark Bellhorn, but he made up for it on a great play in the fifth, when RF Brian Giles nearly hit an extra base hit to right field.
In the fourth, 1B Nomar Garciaparra belted a solo home run to left field off Hensley to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead. This was the first homer Hensley had ever given up in his brief career. The fourth inning was the only trouble Tomko pitched through, and it all started on struggling CF Mike Cameron’s blooper to center, confusing both LF Jose Cruz Jr. and SS Rafael Furcal.
As Cameron maintained his lead on first, Bellhorn drilled a triple over Drew that brought the score to an even 1-1. Before Tomko exited the fourth, 1b Adrian Gonzalez powered a shot to Drew for a sac fly to score Bellhorn from third. The inning ended with the Padres scoring two of their only runs they would get in the game.
Drew’s torrid hitting swept through San Diego in the sixth when the right fielder smoked a full count pitch up the middle to score Furcal. 2B Jeff Kent followed with a sac fly to score CF Kenny Lofton from third and putting LA up by one. The eighth inning brought the last run by the Dodgers on a yet another sac fly from Garciaparra for a two-run lead and the win. The core of the bullpen Takashi Saito and Danys Baez were brought in to ensure Tomko’s third win and a Dodger victory.
Final Score: Dodgers 4, Padres 2
Coming Up
The Dodgers will play for the sweep by sending Derek Lowe to face former Dodger Chan Ho Park
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