BETH HARRIS
AP Sports Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A month after coming off the disabled list, Carl Crawford is on a tear.
He homered for the first time since May 23 and tied his season high with three RBIs in helping the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres 8-6 on Tuesday night, avoiding a four-game losing streak.
Justin Turner drove in two runs and scored another pair for the Dodgers, who have won six of their last seven against the Padres while improving to 8-3 against their NL West rival this season.
Crawford hit a two-run shot with two outs in the seventh, just his fifth homer of the season. He is batting .420 since Aug. 4 after spending 1 ½ months on the DL with a sprained left ankle.
“Things are starting to get better for me,” he said. “Hopefully some more (home runs) will come.”
After getting swept in three games by Milwaukee and taking Monday off, the Dodgers had a team meeting before the game to talk about their skid.
“We wanted to get back on track again,” Crawford said. “That day off was big. A lot of guys said they felt good today.”
Former Padre Kevin Correia (2-0) allowed four runs and eight hits over five innings in his Dodger Stadium debut, falling behind 3-0 on Jedd Gyorko’s three-run homer in the first. The right-hander struck out six and walked one while making his second start since being acquired from Minnesota on Aug. 9. He replaced Hyun-Jin Ryu, who is on the disabled list.
“Not the way you want to start but it’s just one pitch,” Correia said. “I was making some pretty close pitches early and just wasn’t getting the call. I’ve pitched here so many times I felt good right away.”
Kenley Jansen pitched the ninth for his 35th save, although his throwing error on a bunt single led to a run.
On the final play of the game, Padres manager Bud Black challenged a call that ruled Abraham Almonte out at third on a tag play. Yasiel Puig hit Adrian Gonzalez with the cutoff throw to keep the tying run at first and Gonzalez fired to third as Almonte was diving back to the bag.
“He plays an aggressive style of baseball,” Black said. “That play worked out for Puig.”
Turner’s RBI double to deep center field in the fourth inning scored Matt Kemp, who doubled leading off, and tied the game 3-all. A.J. Ellis’ sacrifice fly gave the Dodgers their first lead of the game, 4-3. Correia grounded into a fielder’s choice to the catcher, and Turner scored on a throwing error by first baseman Jake Goebbert to make it 5-3.
Goebbert’s throw bounced and got past Yangervis Solarte, who became entangled with Turner on the bag. When Solarte chased after the errant throw, Turner ran toward the plate with his red hair flying and scored.
Los Angeles cut the lead to 3-2 in the second on Turner’s first RBI double and Erisbel Arruebarrena’s RBI single.
Ian Kennedy (9-11) gave up six runs — five earned — and seven hits in five innings. He struck out five and walked two.
DODGERS MOVES
The team recalled Arruebarrena from Triple-A Albuquerque and he started at shortstop with Hanley Ramirez on the DL. Arruebarrena most recently played in three rehab games for the Rookie-level AZL Dodgers while recovering from right shoulder soreness, going 4-for-11 with two doubles, two homers and four RBIs. He has batted .333 with 11 RBI in 26 games with the Isotopes this season. Infielder Carlos Triunfel was sent back down to Albuquerque, where he came from last weekend.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Padres: Pitcher Andrew Cashner (right shoulder soreness) will be reinstated from the disabled list this weekend and return to the rotation. The right-hander is 2-6 with a 2.36 ERA in 12 starts.
Dodgers: Infielder Juan Uribe, on the disabled list with a hamstring injury, is feeling better and will work indoors for a couple of days. Pitcher Josh Beckett, on the DL with a torn labrum, will let his muscle heal before he starts a throwing program to see if can handle it. Manager Don Mattingly says the question is whether or not there’s enough time remaining for Beckett to get back up to speed before the season ends. Ryu is throwing, but has not yet been cleared to resume running while he deals with a right hip strain.
ON DECK
Padres: Left-hander Eric Stults (5-13, 4.64 ERA) takes the mound. He has limited the opposition to a .222 batting average over his last 10 starts since June 17 at Seattle.
Dodgers: Roberto Hernandez (7-8, 3.72 ERA) has faced the Padres once in his career on May 12, 2013, when he was with Tampa Bay. He is 3-5 in 12 career starts against the NL West.
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