Padilla, bats, propel Dodgers.

By: Brandon Vondera

Los Angeles, CA

In his first outing since his Opening Day effort in which he was bounced by the Bucs after just 4 1/3 innings, ceding 7 runs on six hits and 3 walks, Padilla was a different pitcher. Maybe it was the friendly confines of Dodger Stadium that had the Nicaraguan throwing gas or possibly it was the sight of orange and black in the batters box. Either way, after Ethier helped to front him a 7-0 lead, Padilla produced seven solid innings for skipper Joe Torre. He allowed three runs on four hits, struck out seven, and had a scare when he let a sinker slip away and into the helmet of Giants center fielder Aaron Rowand in the fifth. San Francisco 1B Aubrey Huff recognized a difference in Padilla.

"I've hit him pretty good in my career, but tonight he was a different guy," said Huff. "He was making his pitches and just painting them away. He went away on everybody -- and just when you think you're going to get him away, he busts you in. When he's on, he's really tough. And he was on tonight."

Presumably holding an old blue ice bag over his left cheek, that was fractured in two places, Rowand may not feel the same as his teammate about Padilla's control. Vicente's batterymate Russell Martin, was sympathetic of the Giants slugger, who also sustained a mild concussion from the blow to the bill of his helmet. "Hopefully, he's all right. I like that dude," said Martin. "In that situation, you're trying to get a groundball. So he was trying to throw a sinker down in the zone. Obviously, that's not where it ended up. It just took off leaving his hand. I don't know if it hit him square on the helmet or on the bill, but I know his nose was bleeding."

Before Rowand, the Giants weren't able to stop the bleeding from a heavy attack of Dodgers hitters. For a game with a 7:10 start, the Giants starter, Todd Wellemeyer saw himself staring at a 7-0 deficit by 8 p.m. In the first inning he served up a two-run homer to Matt Kemp (5, four in as many nights) and then a solo shot to Ethier (2). An inning later, more trouble from a familiar face. With the bases juiced and 1 out, Andre Ethier (3) sent a fastball sailing 418' over the fence in straight-away center field.

"It took me five years to get my first one, but I finally got it," Ethier said. "I've hit my fair share of home runs those first four years and never got one, so I'm glad it's over now."

Wellemeyer seemed a little perturbed after allowing 7 runs, six hits, and issuing three walks in four brief innings. "It's a difficult task, especially when the zone was as small as it was tonight," he quipped. "When you throw a strike, you expect it to be (called) a strike. That's all I'm asking for. It (makes) a big difference when you walk the leadoff guy than when you strike him out, but you've just got to go from there and keep battling." After laboring in the first two innings, Wellemeyer fired a Roger Clemens-like bow-tie pitch up and in past Matt Kemp's head, before walking him to load the bases for Ethier. Andre apparently had his boy's back, sending his shot straight back, and well over Wellemeyer's upturned head.

"Maybe sometimes in the past, I tried a little too hard in those situations," Ethier said. "But right there, I think the last thing on my mind was to hit a grand slam. i just wanted to put a good swing on the ball and drive it into the gap."

That he did, and the boys in blue rolled to an eventual 10-8 win over San Francisco. With the victory and a late walk-off winner for San Diego, the Dodgers picked up a full game on both the Giants and Diamondbacks.

Notes: Matt Kemp, who has homered in four straight, became the first Dodger to homer in the teams first four home games since the club moved to Los Angeles from Brooklyn in 1958. Bruce Bochy the San Fran skipper celebrated his 55th birthday. And, both teams wore Jackie Robinson's No. 42 jersey, as the Giants had Thursday off. It was the second straight night for the Dodgers in Robinson's jersey, marking the 63rd anniversary of Jackie's first game with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Popular recording artist Slash of the rock-and-roll group Guns-and-Roses, performed the National Anthem on guitar. The crowd loved it.