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  Tuesday, Jun. 27 10:10pm ET
Los Angeles 5, San Diego 4
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME LOG

LOS ANGELES (AP) _ Trailing in the seventh inning and again in the ninth, the Los Angeles Dodgers finally won a game with some much-needed clutch hitting.

Eric Karros singled home the winning run with two outs in the 10th inning Tuesday night as the Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres 5-4 to snap a five-game losing streak.

Karros also homered for the Dodgers, who tied the game in the seventh on a two-run homer by pinch-hitter Dave Hansen and again in the ninth on a leadoff homer by Todd Hundley.

"We've been searching for that for about a week now, I guess," Hansen said. "It was very nice to see us pull together as a team. Everybody relaxed a little bit and weren't trying to hit homers, just put the ball in play."

Mark Grudzielanek started the winning rally with a one-out double down the left-field line against Matt Whiteside (2-1). Shawn Green was intentionally walked one out later and Karros lined a 2-2 pitch to left for his 63rd RBI.

"He's getting a lot of big hits for us and hitting a lot of home runs," Grudzielanek said. "We battled, no question about it. We've been battling all year."

Mike Fetters (3-0), the fourth Los Angeles pitcher, worked one perfect inning for the victory.

"The ballclub is a little bit tired, especially after what it's been through," Dodgers manager Davey Johnson. "But this win showed the character of this club. We came back, got some pretty good pitching and did the job. This should give us a little lift."

After blowing their early three-run margin and regaining the lead in the eighth, the Padres coughed up a 4-3 advantage when Hundley hit his 14th homer. It came on an 0-2 pitch from Trevor Hoffman, who entered the game with two outs in the eighth.

Grudzielanek was surprised to see Hoffman before the ninth.

"I think a closer should be in for the ninth, and that's it," he said. "They brought him in in the eighth when they needed an out, and they got it. But I think it hurt him in the next inning."

Dodgers reliever Matt Herges, who entered in the eighth, issued a leadoff walk to Ryan Klesko. Phil Nevin sent Klesko to third with a single to center, but was out at second trying to take the extra base on the throw to third.

Bret Boone, who drove in five runs Monday night during an eight-run second inning that sealed Orel Hershiser's fate as a Dodger, singled to left for a 4-3 lead.

Will Cunnane, making his second major league start since 1997, carried a three-hit shutout into the seventh before giving up Karros' 22nd homer and Hundley's double.

"I didn't have my overpowering stuff, so what I had to do was get by with throwing strikes, hitting my spots here and there and just changing the speeds," Cunnane said.

"They've been expecting me to have outings like this and I haven't really shown them that until now. Hopefully, I can keep working on those things."

Carlos Reyes came in and retired his first two batters before Hansen, batting for reliever Antonio Osuna, drove a 3-2 pitch to right field, tying it 3-3.

The pinch-homer was the 10th of Hansen's career and his ninth with the Dodgers, tying the franchise record set by John Frederick. It was Hansen's fourth pinch-homer this season.

Klesko homered in the first inning and Kevin Nicholson singled home two runs in the fourth for the Padres.

Cunnane was charged with two runs and five hits over six-plus innings, striking out two and walking two. He was recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas on Monday for his third stint with the Padres this season. Cunnane displayed some offense too, hitting a two-out double down the right-field line in the seventh _ the first double of his career.

"Will pitched well. Shoot, he pitched outstanding," Padres manager Bruce Bochy said. "We definitely would've liked to get him a win out of that. We've lost a lot of games in the seventh, eighth and ninth."

Notes: Karros' homer left him nine behind third-place Roy Campanella (242) for most home runs in franchise history. ... Hoffman's blown save was his third in 22 chances and second in three outings... Cunnane's last major league start was May 20 at Atlanta, where he gave up seven runs over 3.1 innings in a 10-6 loss. Prior to that, he started Sept. 13, 1997, at St. Louis. ... Ten of Hansen's 27 career homers have come as a pinch-hitter. ... Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant showed he has a decent arm. He threw out the first pitch, getting the ball to Hansen on the fly. ... The Padres optioned right-hander Brandon Kolb to Triple-A Las Vegas and activated right-hander Steve Montgomery from the 15-day DL.

 


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