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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
SAN DIEGO (AP) -- With the exception of two home run pitches,
this was vintage Kevin Brown.
The All-Star right-hander matched his career high with 12
strikeouts and allowed only four hits in eight innings as the Los
Angeles Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres 9-3 on Thursday. The
Dodgers hit three more home runs -- by Adrian Beltre, Shawn Green
and Todd Hundley.
|  | | Dodgers ace Kevin Brown delivers in the third inning against the Padres on Thursday. Brown pitched eight innings, allowing three runs on four hits while striking out 12. |
The only mistakes by Brown, whose next appearance will be in
Tuesday night's All-Star game at Atlanta's Turner Field, was a
two-run, opposite-field homer by slumping Phil Nevin with two outs
in the first, and Wiki Gonzalez's solo homer with two outs in the
seventh that pulled the Padres to 4-3.
But the Dodgers piled it on in the eighth and ninth innings and
won two of three from the Padres.
"I made a lot of good pitches, for the most part," Brown said.
"I made two really bad ones and both of them wound up in the
seats. With a little luck there, those balls are popped up or
something like that, but they wound up not being an issue because
the guys behind me did such a great job of putting runs on the
board."
Dodgers manager Davey Johnson thought Nevin homered on a good
pitch, a fastball away.
"That seemed to kind of tick him off a little bit. He was
lights out, made some nasty pitches the rest of the way," Johnson
said. "It was just an outstanding effort."
Brown (8-2) said it was a "terrible" pitch to Nevin, "not a
very good choice. I gave them a chance with two outs to get a lead
like that."
After allowing Nevin's homer, Brown, the Padres' ace during
their 1998 World Series season, retired 16 of 17 batters, including
striking out the side in the fourth and fifth innings.
"Going against Brown, you don't have the luxury of making
mistakes," Padres manager Bruce Bochy said.
"That guy is always tough," said Al Martin, who went 0-for-4.
"He made a couple of mistakes, but otherwise was unhittable. You
have to be much better and play more consistently to beat a Kevin
Brown than we did today."
He walked just one and matched the strikeout high he set May 25,
1999, at Cincinnati. His previous best this season was 10 on June
15 in a 4-0 victory over Arizona.
But the Dodgers broke it open with four runs in the eighth,
including three that scored on left fielder Al Martin's error.
Martin got a late jump on Green's bases-loaded fly ball, and the
ball bounced out of Martin's glove as he hit the fence. Mark
Grudzielanek hit an RBI double in the eighth.
Also in the eighth, Beltre was thrown out at home on a
one-hopper by rookie right fielder Kory DeHaan on Brown's fly.
Beltre hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning to give the
Dodgers a 3-2 lead and Green hit a solo shot in the fifth, his
first in two weeks. Beltre missed the bag rounding first and had to
come back and touch it after coach John Shelby hollered at him. It
was Green's 13th homer and Beltre's eighth.
Hundley homered leading off the ninth, his 17th of the season
and second in as many games.
The Dodgers hit four homers to provide all their runs in a 7-5
comeback win Wednesday night, including Hundley's tying three-run
shot. The Dodgers, second to St. Louis in homers in the NL, went
deep eight times total in taking two of three from the Padres.
Padres starter Brian Meadows (7-6) saw his personal three-game
winning streak snapped as he allowed four runs on 11 hits in five
innings, including both homers.
Nevin, who came in hitting just .197 since June 1, gave the
Padres a 2-0 lead when he homered to right on a 1-0 pitch, his
18th. Ryan Klesko was aboard on a single.
The Dodgers cut the lead to 2-1 in the second when Green hit a
bloop double that shortstop Kevin Nicholson misplayed, and scored
on Hundley's single.
Game notes
Hundley's bat shattered during his fifth-inning at-bat and
a long splinter stuck in a fan's arm. The fan appeared to be OK as
he left with a security guard to be treated. ... Brown has allowed
three or fewer earned runs in 16 of 17 starts. ... Eric Owens, the
Padres' RF and leadoff hitter, missed his third straight game with
a sore right hand. ... It was the first time in the Padres' last
seven losses that a starter has been tagged with the decision. ...
Gonzalez's homer was his third.
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Baseball Scoreboard
Los Angeles Clubhouse
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RECAPS
NY Yankees 13
Baltimore 9
Toronto 9
Cleveland 6
Boston 8
Minnesota 7
Anaheim 5
Seattle 1
Montreal 4
Atlanta 2
San Francisco 6
Colorado 5
Los Angeles 9
San Diego 3
Cincinnati 12
St. Louis 6
Arizona 2
Houston 1
Milwaukee 4
Philadelphia 2
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