San Diego’s Wade LeBlanc pitched his best game of the season and
wound up being a footnote in a historic chase.

Matt Kemp took another step toward a rare possible Triple Crown
with a solo homer as he led the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 2-0
victory over the Padres on Friday night.

LeBlanc kept Kemp hitless in his first two at-bats before the
Dodgers outfielder homered leading off the seventh inning to tie
St. Louis’ Albert Pujols for the NL lead with 37.

Kemp, who leads the league with 119 RBIs, went 1 for 4 to keep
his average at .326. He picked up a point on Milwaukee’s Ryan
Braun, whose average dropped one point to .329 and into a tie with
New York’s Jose Reyes, who didn’t play because of a rainout.

Ted Lilly combined with three relievers on a four-hitter,
including rookie closer Javy Guerra, who picked up his 20th save in
21 chances.

But this night and the Dodgers’ final five games belong to Kemp,
who is attempting to be the major league’s first Triple Crown
winner since Boston’s Carl Yastrzemski in 1967.

The last player in the National League to pull off the feat was
Ducky Medwick of St. Louis in 1937.

“He’s a Triple Crown candidate for a reason,” LeBlanc said.

And if all that isn’t enough, Kemp is just three homers shy of
becoming only the fifth player in major league history to hit 40
home runs and steal 40 bases in the same season.

“It’s a fun experience and I’m just going to enjoy it,” Kemp
said.

His 426-foot home run off LeBlanc (4-6) made it 2-0 in the
seventh. Kemp had two hits in 15 at-bats against the left-handed
LeBlanc before the homer.

“It’s a pitch now that I’d like to have back,” LeBlanc said.
“But he did a good piece of hitting. If you can hit one out to
right-center field here, you’ve earned it.”

Kemp is hitting .552 (16 for 29) during a seven-game hitting
streak. During the run he has four homers and nine RBIs.

“It felt pretty good,” Kemp said of the homer. “He is someone
you have to be pretty patient with. He mixes his pitches up pretty
good.”

LeBlanc allowed two runs and four hits in seven innings as he
set a career-high with 10 strikeouts.

“I don’t think his velocity wavered for seven innings,” Padres
manager Bud Black said. “Not that this game is about velocity for
Wade, but that’s the best he’s had since he’s been a Padre.”

Lilly (11-14) combined with Mike MacDougal, Kenley Jensen and
Guerra to hand the Padres their 19th shutout, tops in the majors.
Lilly gave up all four hits as he struck out six and walked
two.

Los Angeles’ Eugenio Velez went 0 for 3 with three strikeouts to
tie a modern major-league record by going hitless in his last 45
at-bats. He tied Pittsburgh’s Bill Bergen (1909), Dave Campbell of
San Diego and St. Louis (1973) and Milwaukee’s Craig Counsell this
season.

“It’s a little hard to watch,” Mattingly said. “He’s such a good
kid. He works hard, he’s a good teammate and he’s not moping around
here.”

Lilly is 4-1 with a 1.89 ERA in six starts this season against
San Diego. Lilly has allowed three runs or less in each of his last
10 outings.

LeBlanc allowed two runs and four hits in seven innings as he
set a career-high with 10 strikeouts.

Rookie Jerry Sands extended his hitting streak to a career-high
11 games with a leadoff double in the second before he scored on
Russell Mitchell’s groundout.

The Dodgers (79-77) won for the 22nd time in 30 games as they
moved two games above .500 for the first time since they were 6-4
on April 11.

Notes: The Dodgers are 12-4 against San Diego. … Los Angeles
started five rookies. … Dodgers rookie SS Dee Gordon extended his
hitting streak to a career-high 10 games. … LeBlanc became the
first Padres pitcher to reach double digits in strikeouts. … Chad
Billingsley (11-10, 4.23 ERA) will start for Los Angeles on
Saturday in the second game of the three-game series against Aaron
Harang (13-7, 3,82).

By Eric Stephen

– Managing Editor

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Sep 23, 2011 – The Los Angeles Dodgers end their season on a six-game intradivisional road trip, beginning Friday night at Petco Park against the San Diego Padres. Matt Kemp has six games remaining to hit four home runs to join the 40/40 club, and to make a run at the first triple crown in the National League in 74 seasons.

Not only is Kemp going for the triple crown, but it’s rare that he is even as close as he is, per ESPN:

How rare is it for a player to be this close, this late in the season, to the Triple Crown? Since Yastrzemski won it in 1967, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, Kemp is the only player to date to be within five points of the league leader in batting average (or leading), within one HR of the league leader (or leading), and within one RBI of the league leader (or leading), in the last 15 days of the season, let alone the last week of the season.

Ted Lilly gets the start for the Dodgers in San Diego on Friday, where he has allowed just three total runs in two starts this season, yet is 0-1. Wade LeBlanc starts for San Diego.

Friday night’s 7:05 p.m. game will be televised by Prime Ticket. For more news and information on the Dodgers, be sure to read True Blue LA.

Read More: Ted Lilly (P – LOS), Matt Kemp (CF – LOS), Wade LeBlanc (P – SDP), San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Dodgers at San Diego Padres, Sep 23, 2011 7:05 PM PDT

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(Sports Network) – Matt Kemp continues his pursuit to become the major
league’s first Triple Crown winner in 44 years this evening when the Los
Angeles Dodgers open a three-game set with the San Diego Padres at Petco Park.

Kemp enters the weekend set third in the National League in batting (.326)
behind Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun (.330) and New York’s Jose Reyes (.329), one
back of St. Louis’ Albert Pujols (37) for the home run lead, and has a league-
high 118 RBI.

“The chants of MVP are overwhelming,” said Kemp. “If it happens it happens.
I’m not going to put any more pressure on myself.”

Boston’s Carl Yastrzemski was the last player to lead the league in average,
home runs and RBI, while there hasn’t been an NL Triple Crown winner since Joe
Medwick accomplished the feat for St. Louis in 1937.

Kemp helped his cause on Thursday, as he went 4-for-5 and scored three times
in the Dodgers’ 8-2 win over San Francisco.

“Six more games, I’m not going to put any more pressure on myself,” said Kemp,
who has also stolen 40 bases. “I’m just going to hit the ball hard and we’ll
see where it goes.”

The Dodgers won for the 21st time in their last 29 games on Thursday.

Tonight, Los Angeles will rely on lefty Ted Lilly, who has won three of his
last four decisions. Lilly beat the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday, holding
them to a run and four hits in seven innings, as he improved to 10-14 to go
along with a 4.27 ERA.

Lilly has faced the Padres 16 times (15 starts) and is 9-4 with a 2.86 ERA
against them.

San Diego, meanwhile, will counter with lefty Wade LeBlanc, who is 4-5 with a
5.07 ERA. LeBlanc won for the second straight time after a three-start losing
streak on Saturday against Arizona, holding the Diamondbacks to a run and four
hits in six innings.

LeBlanc, though, is just 1-5 lifetime versus the Dodgers with a 5.21 ERA in
seven starts.

San Diego enters this weekend’s set following a three-game sweep of the
Colorado Rockies. The Padres have won five of their last six, but still
occupy the cellar of the National League West, two games back of the Dodgers.

Los Angeles has owned the Padres this season, going 11-4 against them,
including wins in four of the six meetings in San Diego.

The Sports Network

The Padres’ Jason Bartlett, left, is congratulated by teammate Jeremy Hermida after Bartlett scored in the first inning Tuesday at Coors Field. (Chris Schneider, The Associated Press)

It’s late September and every major-league team has an agenda.

Some are going to the playoffs with aspirations of winning the World Series. Others are trying to finish over .500.

The Rockies?

As unfathomable as it sounds, considering they spent every day from April 6 to May 10 in first place, they need to win some games to stay out of last place in the National League West.

Their latest loss, 2-1 to the cellar-dwelling Padres at Coors Field on Tuesday night, was their sixth in a row and left them only 3 1/2 games ahead of San Diego. A loss in today’s home finale and the Rockies would be just 2 1/2 games ahead as they embark on a seven-game road trip.

Once again, the Rockies’ starting lineup didn’t

include Troy Tulowitzki, Carlos Gonzalez or Todd Helton, though Tulowitzki struck out as a pinch hitter.

In their absence, the Rockies accounted for seven hits, two by leadoff hitter Eric Young Jr.

Jhoulys Chacin (11-13, 3.66 ERA) allowed one earned run in six innings but took the loss.

San Diego’s Mat Latos earned his eighth win in 22 decisions.

Jim Armstrong: 303-954-1269 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com

Looking ahead

WEDNESDAY: Padres at Rockies, 1:10 p.m., Root

Aaron Cook (3-9, 5.97 ERA) promises that he will pitch again at Coors Field. It’s unlikely it will be in a Rockies uniform after today, but Cook’s preference is to stay in the National League West (look at his numbers in San Diego; it’s easy to see why). Cook survived in Denver because of his sinkerball. While striking out fewer than four batters per nine innings, Cook throughout his career escaped jams with double-play groundballs. He is 36-31 (4.63 ERA) in 676 1/3 innings on Blake Street. Padres right-hander Anthony Bass (1-0, 1.88), an effective reliever the last two months, will make his second start. Troy E. Renck, The Denver

Rockies starting pitcher Jhoulys Chacin works the second inning against the Padres at Coors Field on Tuesday. (Justin Edmonds, Getty Images)

Post

Upcoming pitching matchups

Thursday: Rockies’ Alex White (3-2, 6.75 ERA) at Astros’ Henry Sosa (2-5, 4.74), 6:05 p.m., Root

Friday: Rockies’ Drew Pomeranz (1-0, 1.69) at Astros’ Brett Myers (6-13, 4.39), 6:05 p.m., Root

Saturday: Rockies’ Jason Hammel (7-13, 4.85) at Astros’ J.A. Happ (6-15, 5.48), 5:05 p.m., Root

Sunday: Rockies’ Kevin Millwood (3-3, 4.56) at Astros’ Bud Norris (6-11, 3.77), 12:05 p.m., Root

Normal for the Diamondbacks is becoming downright eerie.

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Diamondbacks-Padres series | Box score | 2001 tribute | MLB scoreboard

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Down by seven runs, their reasoning goes, the game still is within reach.

And it was Sunday, and though a 15-game winning streak at home came to an end, their comeback added a little solace to a 7-6 loss to the San Diego Padres in front of 36,369 at Chase Field. Still, even with a victory by the second-place San Francisco Giants, the Diamondbacks have an 8 1/2-game cushion in the NL West standings with 15 games remaining.

A loss never sits well, but the Diamondbacks are in a good spot entering six-game road trip before finishing the season with nine at home.

“We woke up a little bit and were able to fight back,” said center fielder Chris Young who helped trigger a five-run sixth inning. “I thought we were going to pull it out again, honestly.

“I thought we were going to find a way to win it, but a great homestand (3-1). We’ve been playing good baseball lately, and it’s been exciting.”

“Woke up,” was right on target.

Down 7-0 – with six of the runs charged to starter Josh Collmenter – the Diamondbacks got a home run from Henry Blanco and two RBIs each from Young and Collin Cowgill. The deficit was cut to one in the seventh when pinch-hitter Justin Upton drove in a run on a force-out.

In the ninth, Padres closer Heath Bell, who had been tagged for a pair of home runs in the Diamondbacks’ come-from-behind win a day earlier, allowed a walk before retiring the next three hitters.

Shortstop John McDonald, who along with second baseman Aaron Hill joined the team in late August from Toronto in the Kelly Johnson trade, likes the mind-set that manager Kirk Gibson has instilled in the team.

“It’s a lot of fun, because you know you’re never out of it,” he said. “We’re not a team that gets disappointed when we get down early. We know our pitchers are going to battle for us, and our hitters have faith that we’re going to score some runs.

“We didn’t score as many as we would have liked to today, but we could have folded it in and be happy where we’re at in the standings, got on a plane and gone on this road trip,” he said.

“But we’d play all night if we could come out with a win. I think that’s what we felt in the dugout. We felt like we were going to score at least one in the ninth, and we might win it in the 15th. . . . It’s a great feeling.”

The team adheres to Gibson’s philosophy of staying focused on the task at hand, not getting too high or too low, and it has adopted the manager’s tough approach to the game.

“I think it’s rubbed off on a lot of players,” McDonald said. “You can’t feel like you’re the best team in baseball; you can’t feel like the worst. Individually, and I think as a team, you feel that way, too, that it’s OK if we make mistakes because we’re going to come back.”

Entering the bottom of the sixth and down by seven runs often demoralizes a team. It’s in situations such as that, Young said, that a tough approach pays off.

“You just never know,” he said. We just continue to play and see what happens. We understand you’re not going to win every game, so I don’t think anybody in the clubhouse is too down right now.

“We showed a lot of fight, and the Padres know that. We played good, and I’m proud of this team.”

Diamondbacks rewind

Lackluster outing: Diamondbacks starter Josh Collmenter (9-9) did not have anywhere near his best stuff. He lasted only four-plus innings and was roughed up for six runs and seven hits. “They got on Josh,” manager Kirk Gibson said. “Just one of those days, nothing he could do, they were all over him.”

The good news on the pitching side is that the bullpen acquitted itself well. Zach Duke allowed a run in three innings, and Brad Ziegler and Ryan Cook kept San Diego off the scoreboard in the final two innings.

LeBlanc hangs on: Padres starter Wade LeBlanc pitched 5 2/3 innings, charged with four runs, and got the win to improve to 3-5. He also had two singles.

Joining the party: The off day for right fielder Justin Upton, his first since Aug. 13, lasted six innings. He had an RBI with a force-out that brought the Diamondbacks to within 7-6. Catcher Miguel Montero did get a full day’s rest on his off day.

20-20 vision: Center fielder Chris Young joined the 20-20 club for the third time in his career after he stole second base in the second inning. He hit his 20th home run of the season in Saturday’s game.

By the numbers: The Diamondbacks lead the National League with 457 extra-base hits, and their 161 home runs are tied with the Reds for most in the National League.

View from the press box

It’s easy to tell that the Diamondbacks’ intensity is the result of the aggressive, no-quit attitude instilled by manager Kirk Gibson. So it just seems like business as usual when they do the unexpected. It is no surprise to Gibson: “That’s what we expect to do. We want to push through. There’s a saying about playing 27 outs, play until the end. It’s something that’s been preached for a while, that’s just a part of their character.”

Up next: Los Angeles Dodgers

Update: The Dodgers are coming of an 8-1 loss to the Giants and are in third place in the National League West, 12 games behind the Diamondbacks. Left-hander Clayton Kershaw (18-5, 2.36), a leading candidate for the Cy Young Award, is scheduled to start Wednesday, the final game of the three-game set. Center fielder Matt Kemp drives the Dodgers’ offense, with 32 home runs, 107 RBIs and a .317 batting average.

The San Diego Padres hope to push the rival San Francisco
Giants even further off the NL West lead when the division rivals kick off a
quick two-game set tonight from AT&T Park.

The Padres will start an eight-game road trip Tuesday against the Giants,
Diamondbacks and Dodgers, and have won four in a row after a sweep of the
Florida Marlins at Petco Park. They completed the sweep with Sunday’s 4-3
victory, as Will Venable singled home Nick Hundley for the game-winning run.
Hundley led off the frame with a triple.

Venable also homered and Kyle Blanks drove in a pair of runs for the Padres,
who are 12-6 in their last 18 games and went 5-2 on a seven-game homestand.
Cory Luebke started for San Diego and allowed just one run in six innings with
eight strikeouts and no walks. Luebke retired the first 11 batters before Mike
Stanton drove his 30th home run to left field.

“It takes a lot of pressure off knowing one swing of the bat is not going to
do you in,” Luebke said after his no-decision.

Heath Bell blew the save in 1 1/3 innings of work, giving up a game-tying
homer to Mike Cameron in the ninth, but managed to record a win thanks to
Venable’s heroics in the bottom of the inning. Bell blew his fourth save of
the season on a day the franchise retired former closer Trevor Hoffman’s No.
51 in a pre-game ceremony.

Mat Latos is just 1-4 in his last nine starts and lost to the New York Mets in
Wednesday’s 7-3 setback at Petco Park. Latos allowed three runs and four hits
in six innings of work, falling to 6-12 with a 3.83 ERA in 24 starts. Latos is
just 3-5 in 11 road outings this season and 2-2 with a 2.60 ERA in seven
career starts against the Giants.

Latos, a right-hander, did not figure into the decision of a 4-3 home loss to
San Francisco on July 17, when he gave up three runs in seven innings.

San Francisco is one game behind suddenly-struggling Arizona for the top spot
in the National League West Division and was able to end a three-game slide
and salvage the finale of a three-game set at Houston with Sunday’s 6-4 win in
11 innings. The D’Backs lost their sixth in a row Monday in Washington.

Pablo Sandoval’s two-run homer in the top of the 11th inning was the
difference, helping the defending World Series champion Giants to just their
seventh victory in the previous 23 tries. Sandoval has hit safely in 14 of his
last 17 games and is batting .343 in that stretch. Brandon Belt hit a three-
run homer and finished with four hits for the Giants, who will begin a lengthy
12-game homestand tonight versus the Padres, Astros, Cubs and Diamondbacks.

Dan Runzler, making his first big league start in place of an injured Jonathan
Sanchez, gave up four runs on three hits in just 1 2/3 innings.

“[Runzler] was all over the board. He had trouble getting the ball where he
wanted,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said.

Jeremy Affeldt got the win with two scoreless innings of relief and Ramon
Ramirez earned his third save in the bottom of the 11th frame.

Taking the mound for Bochy’s ballclub tonight will be All-Star Matt Cain. Cain
is 2-4 with a 2.31 earned run average in seven starts since the All-Star break
and was able to end a personal three-game slide with Wednesday’s 7-5 win at
Atlanta. He gave up just one unearned run and five hits in eight innings to
lift his record to 10-9 with a 2.86 ERA in 26 starts.

Cain, who has won at least 10 games in three straight seasons, owns a 5-5 mark
in 12 home starts this season. The right-hander is 0-1 in two meetings with
the Padres this season and just 5-10 with a 3.49 ERA in 25 career starts
against them.

San Francisco is 6-4 against the Padres this season and took three of four
meetings from July 14-17 at Petco Park. The Padres went 12-6 in the 2010
season series.

©2011 Sports Network. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

PITTSBURGH — The fading Pittsburgh Pirates finished up the worst homestand in their 125-year history and lost their 10th straight game overall, beaten by Mat Latos and the San Diego Padres 7-3 Sunday.

Latos’ mastery continued the misery for the Pirates, who completed an 0-7 stay at PNC Park against the last-place Padres and Chicago Cubs, two teams that were a combined 39 games under .500 when the week began.

Pittsburgh was winless on a homestand of at least seven games for the first time in franchise history, STATS LLC said. No team in the majors has had a homestand that long without a win since Kansas City in May 2006.

The Pirates, in first place in the NL Central on July 26, were outscored 59-25 by the Cubs and Padres. The bad week came after they got swept in Philadelphia.

Pittsburgh will try again to break its skid Monday night at San Francisco against the World Series champion Giants.

A day after the Pirates held a players-only meeting following a 13-2 loss, they trailed 7-0 going into the bottom of the eighth.

The Padres got a run on a wild pitch by Daniel McCutchen and another that was set up by catcher Ryan Doumit’s throwing error on a pitchout, two plays that exemplified Pittsburgh’s recent futility.

Latos (6-11) allowed only two singles until Doumit and Pedro Alvarez singled to open the eighth. Brandon Wood followed with a home run off Chad Qualls.

Will Venable had three hits and drove in two runs and Logan Forsythe had three RBIs as the Padres completed their third sweep of the season. San Diego has won four in a row.

Playing without top hitter Chase Headley, who sustained a broken left little finger on Saturday, the Padres continued their offensive renaissance at the hands of the beleaguered Pirates.

San Diego came into the series last in the National League in average, runs, home runs and extra-base hits. They left it having scored 35 runs in three games.

This is the Pirates’ longest losing streak since a 12-game slide June 6-18, 2010, a season in which they lost 105 games.

The crowd of 35,601 meant a total of 112,618 saw the series, the fourth-largest in PNC Park history. While fans on Friday and Saturday often resorting to booing, Sunday’s scene never got ugly. Pirates fans were even given a reason to cheer when Wood homered, his seventh, cut San Diego’s lead to 7-3.

Pittsburgh’s Xavier Paul then singled with one out, but Qualls got the Pirates’ two best hitters, Andrew McCutchen and Neil Walker, to ground out harmlessly to end the inning.

Forsythe, in the lineup to replace Headley at third base, had an RBI groundout in the second against Kevin Correia (12-10) and a two-run single in the sixth. Venable added a two-run double in the eighth.

Signed in the offseason as a free agent from San Diego, Correia had allowed one run on three hits through 5 2-3 innings before running into two-out trouble in the sixth. He was charged with four runs on five hits and four walks, falling to 2-8 at home this season.

Kyle Blanks hit a grand slam and drove in five runs and the San Diego Padres again beat free-falling Pittsburgh, 13-2 on Saturday.

“Losing nine is no fun for anybody,” starter Paul Maholm said. “But nobody’s holding a pity party for us. I’m sure there’s a lot of people that are having fun with the fact we’re losing, but we’re just going to get over it and come back tomorrow and expect to win.”

Last in the National League in runs and homers, San Diego set a club record for runs in consecutive games with 28 — they won 15-5 Friday — according to information provided by the Pirates from the Elias Sports Bureau. The Padres hit a grand slam in consecutive games for the first time in 20 years.

Fans at PNC Park booed as the game got out of hand, leaving Pittsburgh 0-6 on its homestand. Blanks’ slam off Chris Resop in the seventh inning made it 11-1.

The Pirates were in first place on July 26, but have dropped 11 of 12 while plummeting out of the NL Central lead. Pittsburgh fell nine games behind division-leading Milwaukee, prompting a players-only team meeting after the game.

“We’ve got to get back to the attitude we had at the beginning of the season,” outfielder Garrett Jones said. “Get our mindset back to where it was. Get that swagger —that was the word we were using — and that attitude of ‘We’re gonna win every game.’”

Saddled with a major North American professional sports record 18 consecutive losing years, the Pirates were as many as seven games over .500 in July. But the team’s sudden slump has been just as stunning as its ascension to respectability after losing 105 games in 2010.

“They’re the same guys who were lighting some things up and people were cheering for and writing good stories about,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “Right now, we’re battling all over the place. It seems real hard for somebody different every night where there’s some adversity that comes into play, so we’re all in it together. We’ve got to keep fighting for one another and keep fighting through it.”

The last-place Padres have pounded Pirates pitching for five home runs in winning the first two games of the series and have won three in a row overall.

The Padres had not hit a grand slam this season until Chase Headley did it Friday night. After hitting his first homer the day before, Blanks’ shot Saturday marked the first time San Diego had hit slams on consecutive days since Aug. 13-14, 1991, when Fred McGriff had both. Cleveland was the most recent team to do it, Sept. 17-18 of last season.

“We talk about contagious, and you see that happening a little bit the last couple of nights,” San Diego manager Bud Black said. “There’s a feeling amongst the lineup that they are going to give a good at bat and the result is going to be there.”

Rookie Cory Luebke (4-6) struck out a career-high nine and allowed one run over seven innings. He also had two hits and scored a run to help the Padres win their eighth straight game in Pittsburgh.

Orlando Hudson had three hits and scored the game’s first run on Blanks’ triple in the second. Rob Johnson had three RBIs for San Diego, which had scored a total of 28 runs over its eight previous games before this series.

Luebke came in having lost his previous three starts. He allowed five hits and no walks.

“We got ahead tonight,” Luebke said, “and with me and (Johnson) on the same page all night, when you get that kind of flow with your catcher, it just makes things easier for everybody.”

Maholm (6-12) gave up a season-high seven earned runs and tied a season high for hits allowed with 10. Pittsburgh has lost each of his five starts since the All-Star break.

Jones had a solo home run for the Pirates in the eighth, his 13th and third of the homestand.

“Obviously, we’re not playing well,” Maholm said. “Obviously, we’ve lost some games, and I think everybody on the field was pressing.

“I’ve gone through a few of these losing streaks like this, and whenever it’s going bad, it’s going bad,” he said.

NOTES: According to Elias, the previous Padres record for runs in consecutive games was 27 on Aug. 22-23, 2002. … The Pirates drew their 14th sellout of the year at PNC Park, the most since the stadium’s inaugural season in 2001. … The Pirates had OF Xavier Paul warming up in the bullpen during the ninth inning. … San Diego has never lost a series at PNC Park, winning 25 of 34 games played here. … Former Padres RHP Kevin Correia will face San Diego for the first time Sunday since signing as a free agent with the Pirates in the offseason. Correia was the winning pitcher in San Diego on May 4 but is only 2-7 at home this season.

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

PITTSBURGH, Aug. 6 (UPI) — Kyle Blanks drove in five runs Saturday, hitting a grand slam to help the San Diego Padres hand Pittsburgh its ninth straight loss in a 13-2 rout.

Blanks staked the Padres to 1-0 lead with an RBI triple in the second and then, after Juan Guzman, Orlando Hudson and Will Venable had reached base with two outs, capped a six-run seventh with a bases-loader homer.

Rob Johnson drove in three runs with a two-run double and a sacrifice fly, and Hudson finished 3-for-5 with three runs scored for San Diego, which clinched its three-game series in Pittsburgh.

Cory Luebke (4-6) tossed seven innings of one-run ball, yielding no walks and striking out nine to earn the victory.

Paul Maholm (6-12) was pounded for seven runs on 10 hits over 6 2/3 innings for the Pirates, who dropped to nine games out of first in the National League Central after leading the division less than two weeks ago.

The Pirates have been outscored 28-7 over the first two games of the San Diego series.

Last in the National League in runs and homers, San Diego set a club record for runs in consecutive games with 28, team said in citing the Elias Sports Bureau. The Padres hit a grand slam in consecutive games for the first time in 20 years.

“We talk about contagious, and you see that happening a little bit the last couple of nights,” San Diego manager Bud Black said. “There’s a feeling amongst the lineup that they are going to give a good at bat and the result is going to be there.”

There was an opposite feeling in the other dugout. The Pirates were in first place on July 26, but have dropped 11 of 12 while plummeting out of the NL Central lead. Pittsburgh fell nine games behind division-leading Milwaukee, prompting a players-only team meeting after the game.

“We’ve got to get back to the attitude we had at the beginning of the season,” outfielder Garrett Jones said. “Get our mindset back to where it was. Get that swagger —that was the word we were using — and that attitude of ‘We’re gonna win every game.’”

Fans at PNC Park booed as the game got out of hand, leaving Pittsburgh at 0-6 on its homestand. Blanks’ slam off Chris Resop in the seventh inning made it 11-1.

Saddled with a major North American professional sports record 18 consecutive losing years, the Pirates were as many as seven games over .500 in July. But the team’s sudden slump has been just as stunning as its ascension to respectability after losing 105 games in 2010.

“Losing nine is no fun for anybody. But nobody’s holding a pity party for us,” losing pitcher Paul Maholm said. “I’m sure there’s a lot of people that are having fun with the fact we’re losing, but we’re just going to get over it and come back tomorrow and expect to win.”

San Diego has pounded Pirates pitching for five home runs in winning the first two games of the series and have won three in a row overall.

The Padres had not hit a grand slam this season until Chase Headley did it Friday night. After hitting his first homer the day before, Blanks’ shot Saturday marked the first time San Diego had hit slams on consecutive days since Aug. 13-14, 1991, when Fred McGriff had both. Cleveland was the most recent team to do it, Sept. 17-18 of last season.

“I feel like the last couple of days before we came on the road I was making some strides in the cage, figuring out some things and applying them in the game,” Blanks said. “Now the results do start to matter, and I feel good. I had a couple of good nights in a row, and I just want to continue.”

Rookie Cory Luebke (4-6) struck out a career-high nine and allowed one run over seven innings. He also had two hits and scored a run to help the Padres win their eighth straight game in Pittsburgh.

Orlando Hudson had three hits and scored the game’s first run on Blanks’ triple in the second. Rob Johnson had three RBIs for San Diego, which had scored a total of 28 runs over its eight previous games before this series.

Luebke came in having lost his previous three starts. He allowed five hits and no walks.

“We got ahead tonight,” Luebke said, “and with me and (Johnson) on the same page all night, when you get that kind of flow with your catcher, it just makes things easier for everybody.”

Maholm (6-12) gave up a season-high seven earned runs and tied a season high for hits allowed with 10. Pittsburgh has lost each of his five starts since the All-Star break.

Jones had a solo home run for the Pirates in the eighth, his 13th and third of the homestand.

NOTES: According to Elias, the previous Padres record for runs in consecutive games was 27 on Aug. 22-23, 2002. … The Pirates drew their 14th sellout of the year at PNC Park, the most since the stadium’s inaugural season in 2001. … The Pirates had OF Xavier Paul warming up in the bullpen during the ninth inning. … San Diego has never lost a series at PNC Park, winning 25 of 34 games played here. … Former Padres RHP Kevin Correia will face San Diego for the first time Sunday since signing as a free agent with the Pirates in the offseason. Correia was the winning pitcher in San Diego on May 4 but is only 2-7 at home this season.

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

Any remaining team that was thinking that maybe it might be able to lure 33-year-old closer Heath Bell(notes) away from the San Diego Padres this offseason when he becomes a free agent was likely finally scared off Monday.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that Bell said Monday that he would accept arbitration from the Friars if he wasn’t offered the three-year deal he covets: “If I don’t have a multi-year deal and they offer me arbitration, I will accept arbitration,” Bell said, the paper reports. “My wife [Nicole] and I talked about all the scenarios last night. There is no downside to me accepting arbitration and the family staying in San Diego for at least another year. My kids love it here. My family is happy here. And I’m in a position where I can make some decisions right now. The ball is in my court. I want to stay in San Diego. And I want to win here.”

That last part might have to wait. The Padres are currently in last place in the National League West, 14½ games behind the San Francisco Giants.

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Source: San Diego Union-Tribune

Related: Heath Bell, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants

Ubaldo Jimenez was the story after just one inning Saturday night as the Colorado Rockies beat the San Diego Padres 10-6.

Incredibly, it was the only inning he pitched before being pulled off the mound.

Jimenez was yanked after one rocky inning when the Rockies agreed to deal their ace to the Cleveland Indians, and Colorado rallied for a 10-6 victory over San Diego.

“Some very incredible circumstances in relation to this game,” Rockies manager Jim Tracy said. “To go out there and win the ballgame speaks for itself.”

Eliezer Alfonzo hit a grand slam and drove in a career-high five runs for the Rockies. Troy Tulowitzki had three RBIs, including a two-run homer, and Esmil Rogers (4-1) came on in relief of Jimenez and allowed one run in five innings.

But it was how Jimenez started the game, with Rogers was warming up in the bullpen, that was odd.

“He started to warm up and we found out shortly after the national anthem had finished that it was official,” Tracy said. “At the time that he went down (to warm up), we hadn’t gotten official confirmation. Once the game started, there was (a deal).”

Jimenez gave up four runs, two hits and four walks in the shaky first. He was lifted for Rogers and told reporters outside the Colorado locker room he had been traded to the Indians.

The Rockies confirmed the five-player deal with Cleveland later in the game. Colorado will get three minor leaguers and a player to be named.

“For sure, I didn’t have my mind on baseball right there,” Jimenez said. “It’s extremely hard to get traded. When I got to the mound in the first inning, I couldn’t even throw a strike because I didn’t have my mind on the game.”

Jimenez was greeted with hugs, handshakes and pats on the back from his teammates and coaches when he came into the dugout after the first inning.

“I have known him since I have been with the organization,” Tulowitzki said. “It’s tough to see someone like him go.”

Tracy said before Jimenez went to the mound, there were plenty of distractions.

“I called him into the office (before the game) because there was something that had gone across on the television that said he had been traded,” Tracy said. “I was waiting for confirmation. If time allowed, he would not have started the game. But I didn’t get that call, so I called him in here to tell him the TV was not (true).”

Even though the trade was not a surprise, Tracy said that doesn’t make it easier.

“I understand the things we are doing,” said Tracy, whose eyes got moist as he spoke of Jimenez. “But that doesn’t make it very simple to say goodbye to somebody who has meant so much to this organization and to myself personally as a manager.”

Elsewhere in the National League it was: Philadelphia 7 Pittsburgh 4; Milwaukee 6 Houston 2; St. Louis 13 Chicago Cubs 5; Atlanta 5 Florida 1; Cincinnati 7 San Francisco 2; Washington 3 N.Y. Mets 0 and Arizona 6 L.A. Dodgers 4.

At San Diego, Alfonzo connected against reliever Luke Gregerson in the sixth inning, giving the Rockies a 7-4 lead. He also drew a bases-loaded walk.

Alfonzo’s home run was his first since May 30, 2010, for Seattle. It was the first grand slam by Colorado since Sept. 23, 2010, when Carlos Gonzalez went deep at Arizona.

Colorado earned its third consecutive win, improving to 11-3 in its last 14 games at Petco Park.

Chris Nelson had three hits and scored twice and Tulowitzki reached the 20-homer mark for the fourth time in his five full seasons.

Aaron Harang (9-3) allowed six runs and six hits over 5 2-3 innings for San Diego.

Alberto Gonzalez had three RBIs for San Diego and Ryan Ludwick drove in two.

Ludwick and Alberto Gonzalez each had a two-run double in the first.

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Phillies 7 Pirates 4

At Philadelphia, Ryan Howard had four hits, including a homer and two doubles, and three RBIs to lead Philadelphia to the victory.

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Brewers 6 Astros 2

At Milwaukee, Yovani Gallardo tossed seven effective innings and Prince Fielder hit a 475-foot home run for surging Milwaukee.

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Cardinals 13 Cubs 5

At St. Louis, Mo., Albert Pujols and David Freese homered, helping St. Louis overcome a five-run deficit. It was the 432nd homer of Pujols’ career and came one day after he reached 2,000 hits. The home run places him alone in 40th place on the career list.

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Braves 5 Marlins 1

At Atlanta, Tim Hudson allowed one run in seven innings and Dan Uggla hit a three-run homer to lead Atlanta to the victory. Uggla belted his 20th homer in the third inning to extend his career-best hitting streak to 21 games.

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Reds 7 Giants 2

At Cincinnati, Jay Bruce and Chris Heisey each hit a two-run single in Cincinnati’s five-run first inning.

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Nationals 3 Mets 0

At Washington, D.C., Jayson Werth hit a three-run homer for Washington, and Yunesky Maya, filling in for traded starter Jason Marquis, earned his first career win.

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Diamondbacks 6 Dodgers 4

At Los Angeles, Justin Upton greeted Matt Guerrier with a go-ahead three-run double, and Arizona climbed within three games of the NL West lead.