Padres seize opportunities to top Dodgers

The Padres stumbled into their own undoing in the series opener at Dodger Stadium, wasting 14 hits on their way to defeat. In the field and on the basepaths, they played less than crisply, a bad combination on a night their pitching also faltered.

Wednesday was different. Again, the Padres took an early, three-run lead. This time, they kept it.

A 4-1 win over the Dodgers was more in line with the norm since the All-Star break: improved at-bats, opportunistic offense, strong pitching backed by solid defense.

Eric Stults, a weak link in the rotation for much of the season, has quietly been the Padres’ best starter of late. For the fourth consecutive outing, the left-hander allowed two or fewer runs. He was pinch-hit for after five innings, having already thrown 93 pitches. Yet he’d done his job, keeping the Dodgers off balance.

“I enjoy pitching here, enjoyed my time with the Dodgers,” said Stults, who spent parts of four seasons with the Dodgers. “But I’m a Padre now. Coming back here, there’s a little extra pitching against your old team. You want to do well.”

Said Padres manager Bud Black: “He’s gotten back to better use and location of the fastball. … He’s a strike-thrower, and I think things are starting to turn his way.”

The Padres, meawhile, applied consistent pressure against Roberto Hernandez. The Dodgers right-hander faced seven batters in the second inning, allowing three singles and two earned runs. Another run scored on a fielding error.

The Padres would finish with 11 hits, several proving timely; two came in the fourth, leading to a sacrifice fly.

Stults, who contributed one of those second-inning singles, surrendered the Dodgers’ lone run in the third, on Matt Kemp’s sac fly. Otherwise, Stults navigated out of trouble; he allowed four hits while recording five strikeouts.

The Padres bullpen entered the game allowing a .210 average. Since 1914, only the 1942 St. Louis Cardinals (.202) and the 2003 Dodgers (.207) have been better. Wednesday, Blaine Boyer, Dale Thayer and Kevin Quackenbush combined for four scoreless innings of relief. With closer Joaquin Benoit still contending with a “cranky” shoulder, Quackenbush collected his first career save.

Last weekend in St. Louis, given Benoit’s unavailability, Black informed Quackenbush that a ninth-inning opportunity was on the horizon.

“Once Buddy tells you, it’s kinda like you wait to get it out of the way,” Quackenbush said. “I was hoping it would be that first night in St. Louis, but to have the first one in Dodger Stadium is pretty awesome.”

After beginning this road trip with four losses in five games, the Padres’ wild-card hopes have gone from faint to virtually nonexistent. That does not preclude them from finding meaning in the last six weeks of the season; under the eye of new GM A.J. Preller, the Padres will play for spots on next year’s roster.

Rymer Liriano, for example, has impressed in what remains a very limited sample. Wednesday, the rookie outfielder doubled, singled, walked, scored two runs and made a diving catch in right field. He was part of a bottom third of the order that went a combined 5-for-9.

“We’ve talked about the complete skillset,” Black said of Liriano, “and tonight it showed up a little bit.”

Shortstop Alexi Amarista, who hit eighth, reached base safely in all four of his plate appearances. He drove in a run and stole two bases.

Notable

• Benoit, who has not pitched since Aug. 13, will receive a “couple more” days of treatment, Black said. If the right-hander doesn’t respond, he will likely go on the disabled list.
• Center fielder Cameron Maybin, who on Wednesday returned from a 25-game suspension, entered in the ninth as a defensive replacement.
• Dodgers right-hander Zack Greinke had his scheduled start pushed to Saturday. Left-hander Clayton Kershaw, who was originally set to start Friday, will instead go Thursday against the Padres on regular rest.
• Padres right-hander Andrew Cashner will come off the disabled list to start Saturday’s game in Arizona. Cashner went on the DL on June 23 with shoulder soreness.
• Shortstop Everth Cabrera (left hamstring strain) will join the Padres on Thursday in Los Angeles, where he’ll resume baseball activities. Cabrera, who has been on the DL since Aug. 10, is unlikely to return as soon as he’s eligible, but he could begin running on Monday, Padres manager Bud Black said.
• Left-hander Max Fried, the Padres’ top pitching prospect, underwent Tommy John surgery Wednesday in Los Angeles. He is not expected to return until 2016.
• Right-hander Casey Kelly (elbow) began playing catch about two weeks ago at the Padres’ spring training facility in Arizona. Kelly had been shut down since reporting elbow soreness after a rehab start for Double-A San Antonio in May. With the minor league season winding down, Kelly is unlikely to return to competition in the next several weeks.