Kemp, Dodgers Blank Padres 2-0
SAN DIEGO (CBS/AP) -- Matt Kemp celebrated his 27th birthday by moving a step closer to the NL Triple Crown with a solo homer and Ted Lilly combined with three relievers on a four-hitter, leading the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 2-0 victory over the San Diego Padres on Friday night.
Kemp went hitless in his first two at-bats before he 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.
Kemp, one of the leading MVP candidates, is attempting to be the major leagues' first Triple Crown winner since Boston's Carl Yastrzemski in 1967.
Lilly (11-14) combined with Mike MacDougal, Kenley Jensen and Javy 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.
Guerra pitched the ninth for his 20th save in 21 chances as Los Angeles picked up its 17th shutout.
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.
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).
