"Having wins is something I take pride in," he said, "That's the most important thing to me. And I can't do it all by myself. So this team has been huge for me."

The Dodgers gave him two first-inning runs to work with, continuing what Kershaw noted had been an early pattern, and a rather daunting task for an opponent, as Padres manager Bud Black said: "Two runs in the first inning against a guy who's probably going to win the Cy Young is tough to come back from."

The Dodgers extended their lead in the fifth as Jamey Carroll walked, and Matt Kemp reached on an error -- his roller to third going under the glove of Alberto Gonzalez. Juan Rivera singled in Carroll, and Kemp scored on an Aaron Miles ground out. They had five hits off Cory Luebke, lifted for a pinch-hitter in the sixth.

Matt Kemp is 1 for 3. His batting average is at .325, eight points behind leader Ryan Braun of Milwaukee. He remains tied for the league lead in home runs (37) and leads in RBIs with 120.

The Dodgers scored twice in the first against Luebke, as Jamey Carroll walked with one out and Matt Kemp doubled. Juan Rivera's fly out moved Kemp to third before he scored on Aaron Miles' single. The Dodgers have three hits, the other being a second-inning single by Jerry Sands that extended his hitting streak to 13 games.

An early triple crown update: Ryan Braun is 1 for 2 for the Brewers, in the third inning of their game with Florida, pushing his lead over Matt Kemp to seven points at this moment.

Dodgers (79-78, third NL West, 12.5 games back)
Dee Gordon, SS (.298, 0 HR, 10 RBIs)
Jamey Carroll, 2B (.285, 0, 16)
Matt Kemp, CF (.325, 37, 119)
Juan Rivera, LF (.289, 5, 44)
Aaron Miles, 3B (.279, 3, 43)
James Loney, 2B (.288, 11, 63)
Jerry Sands, RF (.249, 4, 26)
Rod Barajas, C (.231, 15, 45)
Clayton Kershaw, LHP (20-5, 2.27 ERA; batting, .232, 0, 4)

Padres (69-89, fifth NL west, 23 games back)
Cameron Maybin, CF (.263, 9, 38)
Jason Bartlett, SS (.251, 2, 40)
Nick Hundley, C (.288, 8, 26)
Jesus Guzman, 1B (.313, 5, 44)
Chris Denorfia, RF (.279, 5, 19)
Orlando Hudson, 2B (.241, 7, 43)
Aaron Cunningham, LF (.176, 2, 8)
Alberto Gonzalez, 3B (.214, 1, 31)
Cory Luebke, LHP (6-9, 3.23 ERA; .212, 0, 0)

Kemp went 1 for 4 with a single, slipping to six points behind Ryan Braun in the league batting race, but was generally in good humor as he talked to reporters, laughing when someone asked about the look on his face during a couple of at-bats.

"Like (bleep), I should have hit that pitch?" he suggested.

Will Venable and Orlando Hudson each had RBI hits. The last run was unearned, as Venable scored from second when The last of the runs was unearned, as Venable scored when catcher Tim Federowicz threw wildly on a pickoff try to first.

Matt Kemp, who singled in his first at-bat, struck out in the fourth and flied out to deep center field, just a few feet shy of the wall, in the sixth. He is now batting .326, trailing Jose Reyes and Ryan Braun in average in his attempt to win the triple crown.

Padres starter Aaron Harang has allowed just three hits, most recently a Jerry Sands double in the sixth.

The Dodgers have just two hits off Aaron Harang, including a Matt Kemp single in the first. That edges his average up to .327. Jose Reyes went 1 for 3 today and is batting .330; Ryan Braun is 1 for 2 so far for Milwuakee and is also at .330. The other hit belongs to James Loney.

Just two Padres have reached base against Chad Billingsley, both on walks. Billingsley has one strikeout.

Dodgers (79-77, third NL West, 11.5 games back)
Dee Gordon, SS (.299, 0 HR, 10 RBIs)
Jerry Sands, RF (.249, 4, 26)
Matt Kemp, CF (.326, 37, 119)
Juan Rivera, LF (.294, 5, 44)
James Loney, 1B (.288, 11, 63)
Russell Mitchell, 3B (.167, 2, 3)
Tim Federowicz, C (.200, 0, 1)
Justin Sellers, 2B (.196, 1, 11)
Chad Billingsley, RHP (11-10, 4.23 ERA; batting, .164, 1, 4)

Padres (68-89, fifth NL West, 23 games back)
Will Venable, LF (.249, 7, 38)
Orlando Hudson, 2B (.241, 7, 42)
Cameron Maybin, CF (.265, 9, 38)
Chase Headley, 3B (.291, 4, 44)
Jeremy Hermida, RF (.180, 2, 9)
Luis Martinez, C (.235, 1, 10)
Anthony Rizzo, 1B (.138, 1, 9)
Andy Parrino, SS (.179, 0, 3)
Aaron Harang, RHP (13-7, 3.82 ERA; batting, .093, 0, 1)

Kemp, with his seventh-inning home run on Friday night, is now tantalisingly close to becoming the first triple-crown winner since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967, leading the National League in RBIs (119), tied for the lead in homers (37) and, at .326, three points back of Ryan Braun in the batting-average race.

"A lot happened today," said Kemp, who was celebrating his 27th birthday. "A win, Javy (Guerra) got 20 saves, (Ted) Lilly pitched good. We did a good job today.

"It was one of those games where there wasn't much going on, but we found a way to win."

Lilly gave up a double to Nick Hundley to lead off the fourth, then retired six straight before Jason Bartlett singled to open the sixth. Lilly has struck out seven and walked two, and has the Padres at 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position.

The Dodgers have had just two hits off Wade LeBlanc since the Jerry Sands double that led to their run in the second. Justin Sellers singled to lead off the fourth, and Dee Gordon bunted his way on with two outs in the sixth.