Correia stifles Dodgers in Padres' 3-1 win

[June 11, 2009]  LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Kevin Correia retired his final 15 batters during a sterling six-inning performance on three days' rest, and the San Diego Padres beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-1 on Wednesday night.

Correia (3-4) did not allow a baserunner after giving up a leadoff single in the second inning to Rafael Furcal. The right-hander threw 81 pitches, allowing one run and four hits with no walks in his 58th career start. It was the first time he had fewer than four days' rest between starts in the big leagues. He had four strikeouts.

Correia, who threw 83 pitches in six innings in his 6-4 win on Saturday against Arizona, was moved up in the rotation after manager Bud Black was forced to use Chad Gaudin in relief for two innings in Sunday's 18-inning loss to Arizona.

One night after hitting four solo homers against Chris Young, the defending NL West champion Dodgers managed only four singles against Correia, who allowed three runs and five hits against them in a no-decision on April 9.

Greg Burke gave up a leadoff double in the seventh to Casey Blake before walking Russell Martin. But Furcal struck out, and Burke escaped the jam with a double play as Matt Kemp struck out and Henry Blanco threw out Blake on the front end of an attempted double steal.

Edward Mujica pitched a hitless eighth and Heath Bell got three outs for his major league-leading 18th save in 19 chances.

The Dodgers, who lead the majors with a 40-21 record, scored fewer than three runs for the eighth time in their last 13 games and 15th time overall. They came in leading the league in batting average, runs, hits and on-base percentage.

Clayton Kershaw (3-5) threw 83 pitches over 2 2-3 innings in the second-shortest of his 33 big league starts, giving up three runs, five hits and four walks.

Kershaw found himself in a bases-loaded, no-out jam after just 12 pitches, and the Padres were able to scratch out two runs without a ball leaving the infield.

The Dodgers got a run in the bottom half on Ethier's RBI single, but the Padres regained their two-run margin in the third with Chase Headley's RBI single.

Notes: The X-rays on San Diego C Nick Hundley's left wrist were negative. He was hit by a 93-mph fastball from Chad Billingsley on Tuesday and did not play in the finale of the two-game series. ... Gaudin's next start will be Friday night in the opener of a three-game interleague series with the Angels. ... Correia has won consecutive starts for the first time this season. He has allowed three runs or fewer in nine of his 12 outings.

[Associated Press]

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