BASEBALL

ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers have acquired catcher Luis Martinez from the San Diego Padres for minor league pitcher Ryan Kelly.

Martinez batted .203 (12 for 59) in 22 games for San Diego with one homer and 10 RBIs. He homered for his first big league hit on July 27 against Arizona. A 12th round draft pick in 2007, Martinez hit .323 at Triple-A Tucson in 58 games. He had one home run and 28 RBIs.

The Rangers added Martinez to the 40-man roster on Wednesday.

Kelly was 3-6 with a 3.95 ERA and nine saves in 40 appearances for Class-A Myrtle Beach last season. The 26-year-old right-hander will be assigned to Double-A San Antonio.

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS

Briefly: The Indians have agreed to a minor league contract with versatile free-agent infielder Andy LaRoche and invited him to spring training. He’ll have a chance to win the club’s utility infield job. … The Milwaukee Brewers have signed infielder Cesar Izturis and left-hander Juan Perez to minor-league contracts with invitations to spring training. The Brewers also invited catcher Anderson De La Rosa, left-hander Jed Bradley and right-hander Taylor Jungmann to spring training. … The Kansas City Royals have signed reliever Jose Mijares to a 1-year contract, giving manager Ned Yost another left-handed option late in games. The team announced the deal Wednesday. Terms were not disclosed.

A person familiar with the situation says the Chicago Cubs and outfielder Reed Johnson are closing in on a one-year contract. The Associated Press reported Johnson will be signed pending a physical. … … Creditors of the Los Angeles Dodgers are joining the team in urging a federal district judge not to halt implementation of a bankruptcy court order authorizing the Dodgers to begin a process for selling television rights to future games. In a filing Wednesday, the committee said there’s no guarantee that a sale of the team without the TV rights will result in Dodgers creditors being paid in full.

SAN DIEGO – By the time Matt Kemp bats in the last game of the regular season Wednesday night he hopes to be ready to enter some of the rarest territory in baseball.

In a quiet way, Kemp catapulted himself toward a possible Triple Crown run with a productive September. But after a tough three-game series against the San Diego Padres over the weekend, Kemp’s quest has become a lot more difficult.

Although Kemp has a comfortable lead in RBIs (119) and is tied with St. Louis’ Albert Pujols in home runs (37), the Dodgers’ slugger has fallen nine points behind Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun in the NL batting race. If Kemp is to become the first player to win the Triple Crown since Boston’s Carl Yastrzemski in 1967 and the first NL player since St. Louis’ Ducky Medwick in 1937, he will have to pick up the pace in Phoenix in the final three games.

“I know it will take a lot to go past (Braun),” Kemp said. “I’m not going to try for hits, but I’m going to just keep doing what I have been doing and that is take good hacks and stay within myself.”

Kemp, who went 3 for 13 against the Padres at pitcher-friendly Petco Park, is at .324 while Braun is at .333.

Los Angeles manager Don Mattingly, a former AL MVP and lifetime .307 hitter with the Yankees, thinks Kemp has a shot, although it will take an exceptional combination of circumstances.

“One guy has to kind of collapse and the other guy catches fire,” Mattingly said. “You kind of need one of those 5-for-5 days and the other guy has to go 1 for 5. But we have seen Matt get hot before.”

Kemp’s torrid six-game stretch of multiple hit games leading into the San Diego series got him back in the Triple Crown conversation. Kemp was hitting .321 on Sept. 1 but trailed New York’s Jose Reyes (.335) and Braun (.331). Two weeks later, his average had dropped to .314.

But then on Sept. 16, Kemp began his multihit barrage with 15 hits in six games that culminated with a 4-for-5 performance in the Dodgers’ final home game Thursday. That raised his average to .326, four points behind Braun.

“If I have any chance at getting there, my mindset, my approach can’t change,” Kemp said. “I’m not going to be trying to hit home runs or worrying about hits. Once I start to do that, that’s when I lose my focus and I won’t be successful. I have to stay focused and do the same things that have gotten me to where I am at right now.”

Through it all, Kemp has kept his sense of humour.

“Someone was screaming at me when I went to bat, ‘Braun got two hits. Forget about it, man,’” Kemp said after Sunday’s game at San Diego. “I just started laughing. He’s actually one of my favourite players.”

One thing Kemp promises is this: He won’t think about trying to smash the ball. He hasn’t done it all season and won’t do it now.

“I’m not going to change it up. I just have to relax. When I try to hit home runs and hit too hard, I’m not too successful.”

If Kemp somehow pulls off this Triple Crown, Mattingly thinks the feat will have big implications.

“Just look at the game of baseball,” Mattingly said. “The last time it was done was ’67. Right there that tells you a lot. A lot of great players have come through the league and done a lot of good things. But to be able to put this combination together is huge.”

Heath Bell, the Padres’ 33-year-old closer, marvels at the difficulty of a Triple Crown.

“Think of it this way — 1967. That was 10 years before I was even born, and I’m not one of the young guys in the league,” he said. “He’d be doing something that none of the great players in the last 40-some years did. That’s pretty mind blowing, pretty impressive.”

Said Dodgers pitcher Ted Lilly: “It would be an unreal ending to what has already been a great year. Just on its own, this season has been tremendous. Now you add the Triple Crown and that puts it in a completely different category all by itself.”

Kemp has hit well at Chase Field, where he has a career average of .304 with seven homers and 19 RBIs in 148 at-bats.

“It would be unbelievable if I could do this,” Kemp said.

SAN DIEGO, Sept. 25 (UPI) — Aaron Harang tossed eight shutout innings Saturday, yielding only three hits in the San Diego Padres’ 3-0 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Harang (14-7) didn’t issue a walk and struck out five while placing 72 of his 105 pitches for strikes in the Padres’ victory.

Heath Bell wrapped up the shutout with a scoreless ninth for his 42nd save as San Diego evened its three-game series at Petco Park.

The Padres scored all three of their runs in the fifth on RBI from Will Venable and Orlando Hudson.

A third run scored on an error by Los Angeles catcher Tim Federowicz.

Chad Billingsley (11-11) yielded three runs (two earned) on four hits over five frames for the Dodgers.

SAN DIEGO (AP) – Matt Kemp’s pursuit of the Triple Crown took a hit when Aaron Harang threw eight sharp innings to lead the San Diego Padres to a 3-0 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday night.

Kemp leads the NL with 119 RBIs and is tied for lead with 37 homers. But he went 1 for 4 to drop his batting average to .325, falling six points behind league leader Ryan Braun of Milwaukee at .331. New York’s Jose Reyes is second at .330.

With just four games remaining, Kemp is trying to become the majors’ first player to achieve the Triple Crown since Boston’s Carl Yastrzemski in 1967, and the first in the National League since Ducky Medwick of St. Louis in 1937.

Kemp also is trying to become the fifth player in major league history to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in the same season.

Kemp singled in the first inning, then went hitless in his final three at-bats, including bouncing into a game-ending double play.

Heath Bell pitched the ninth for his 42nd save in 47 chances, completing a four-hitter for the Padres’ ninth shutout of the season.

Harang (14-7) retired 21 of his final 22 batters and allowed just one runner to reach second base. He struck out five and walked none in possibly his final game with the Padres.

The right-hander, a San Diego native, signed a one-year contract in the offseason and has a mutual option for the 2012 season for $5 million.

Los Angeles rookies Jerry Sands and Dee Gordon extended their career-high hitting streaks to 12 and 11 games, respectively.

Rookie shortstop Andy Parrino made two consecutive stellar defensive plays behind Harang in the seventh inning, robbing the Dodgers of hits.

Chad Billingsley (11-11) allowed three runs and four hits in six innings for Los Angeles. The right-hander struck out four and walked three.

Will Venable put the Padres ahead with a two-out RBI single in the fifth inning. Orlando Hudson followed with another run-scoring single and San Diego also scored on catcher Tim Federowicz’s error on an errant throw.

NOTES: The Dodgers lost for just the ninth time in 30 games. … The Padres raised their record against Los Angeles to 5-12. … Dodgers LHP Clayton Kershaw (20-5, 2.27 ERA) will make his final start of the season Sunday. LHP Corey Luebke (6-9, 3.23) will start for San Diego in the series finale.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.