Dodgers hold off Padres in 13, 7-6

James Loney, bottom, was on the wrong end of this collision with Russell Martin, but ended up the hero for the Dodgers on Sunday. (AP photo)

James Loney led off the 13th inning with a homer to give the Los Angeles Dodgers a 7-6 win Sunday over the San Diego Padres.

Loney hit his sixth homer of the season into the right-field seats off Edward Mujica (2-4) to help the Dodgers win after squandering a 6-0 lead.

Manny Ramirez didn’t start for the first time since he returned from a 50-game drug suspension on Friday. Manager Joe Torre said he wanted Ramirez to rest his legs after being out so long.

The outfielder pinch hit in the 11th inning off Mike Adams and was robbed of a hit by right fielder Tony Gwynn’s sliding catch.

Jeff Weaver (5-2) pitched three hitless innings for the win. He intentionally walked Adrian Gonzalez with one out in the 13th inning to bring up pitcher Kevin Correia, who sacrified him over to second. The Padres had no position players left so they brought him in to bunt.

Weaver struck out Kyle Blanks to end the game.

San Diego rookie Everth Cabrera capped a five-run ninth inning with a two-run single that tied the game at 6-all when closer Jonathan Broxton failed to hold a 6-2 lead.

Los Angeles pounded out 18 hits and took a 6-0 lead in the fifth. But the Dodgers tied a season high by stranding 14 runners, including twice leaving the bases loaded.

The rally ruined a masterful game by Dodgers’ All-Star Chad Billingsley, who carried a two-hitter into the ninth inning.

Billingsley was three outs away from his third career complete game and first of the season when Chase Headley led off the ninth with a home run and Tony Gwynn Jr. doubled. Broxton, who was also named to the NL All-Star team on Sunday, replaced Billingsley and issued a one-out walk to Scott Hairston.

He gave up an RBI single to pinch-hitter Will Venable with two outs before he walked Edgar Gonzalez to load the bases. The Dodgers’ closer then walked Alfonzo for another run and cut the lead to 6-4. Broxton ran the count full before Cabrera chopped a ball up the middle to score two runs.

As Alfonzo went from first to third on the hit, he overslid the bag and was tagged for the final out.

Billingsley, named to his first All-Star team earlier in the day, dominated the Padres through eight innings. Billingsley, who struck out five and did not walk a batter, also hit his first major league homer, a solo shot in the fifth and had two hits.

Billingsley was charged with three runs on four hits, including a solo homer to Kevin Kouzmanoff in the fifth.

Casey Blake hit a three-run homer and Andre Ethier added a solo shot for the first-place Dodgers, who hold the best record in baseball (52-30) at the midway point of the season.

Billingsley, a career .124 hitter who doubled in the third, led off the fourth with his first homer in 154 major league at-bats off Josh Banks. A triple by Rafael Furcal and consecutive singles by Pierre and James Loney knocked Banks out of the game.>

NOTES: San Diego’s comeback was similar to a 6-5 win over the Dodgers on June 7, 2007 when the Padres scored five runs in the bottom of the ninth off Broxton for the win. … Billingsley’s homer was the first by an opposing pitcher against San Diego since Andy Pettite hit one against Chan Ho Park on Aug. 11, 2006 at Houston. … Kouzmanoff had gone hitless in his previous 21 at-bats before he homered into the second deck in left field.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, July 5th, 2009 at 6:12 pm and is filed under Baseball, Padres, Sports . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.