SAN DIEGO (AP) — The San Diego Padres have hired Alonzo Powell as assistant hitting coach to work under Phil Plantier.

Powell served as interim hitting coach for the Seattle Mariners during part of the 2010 season. He has 10 years of coaching experience following a 19-year playing career in the United States and Japan.

Plantier was hired as hitting coach after Randy Ready was fired the day after the season ended. The Padres were last in the NL West at 71-91.

Powell won’t be able to sit in the dugout during games.

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 This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

SAN DIEGO (AP)—The San Diego Padres have hired Alonzo Powell as assistant
hitting coach to work under Phil Plantier.

Powell served as interim hitting coach for the Seattle Mariners during part
of the 2010 season. He has 10 years of coaching experience following a 19-year
playing career in the United States and Japan.

Plantier was hired as hitting coach after Randy Ready was fired the day
after the season ended. The Padres were last in the NL West at 71-91.

Powell won’t be able to sit in the dugout during games.

SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Padres have declined their $5 million mutual option for 2012 for right-hander Aaron Harang, as well as a mutual option for infielder-outfielder Brad Hawpe and a club option for right-handed reliever Chad Qualls.

Harang was 14-7 with a career-best 3.64 ERA for his hometown Padres.

Hawpe, who replaced Adrian Gonzalez at first base, played in 62 games, with 50 starts, before going on the disabled list June 21 and missing the remainder of the season after undergoing reconstructive surgery on his left elbow on Aug. 5.

Qualls led the Padres with 77 relief appearances, going 6-8 with a 3.51 ERA.

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 This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

SAN DIEGO, Sept. 28 (UPI) — Nick Hundley and Will Venable homered and combined to drive in seven runs Wednesday, sending the San Diego Padres to a 9-2 victory over the Chicago Cubs.

The Padres and Cubs ended the season tied for the second-worst record in the National League (71-91) — ahead of only the Houston Astros and their 106 losses.

Hundley hit a three-run homer to highlight a four-run third and Venable blasted a grand slam in the sixth.

That made things easy for Wade LeBlanc (5-6), who gave up two runs on five hits in seven innings to get the victory.

Ryan Dempster (10-14) suffered the loss, surrendering all nine runs on eight hits in 5 2/3 innings.

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.