Matt Kemp’s NL triple-crown ambitions take hit in Dodgers’ win
Reporting from San Diego — At one point during the Dodgers’ 8-2 victory over the San Diego Padres on Sunday, a fan at Petco Park shouted at Matt Kemp.
“Braun got two hits!” the fan alerted him. “Braun got two hits!”
The fan was referring to Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers, whom Kemp is pursuing in the race for the National League batting title.
“I just started laughing,” Kemp said. “Shoot, he’s actually one of my favorite players.”
Kemp’s triple-crown ambitions took a significant hit on this day, as Braun raised his average to .333 while Kemp was one for five, dropping his to .325.
Kemp remained tied with Albert Pujols as the league’s co-leader in home runs with 37, but increased his league-leading runs batted in total to 120 with a run-scoring double in the first inning.
All that remains of the Dodgers’ season is a three-game series in Arizona that starts Monday.
The Dodgers had a game in Washington rained out this month that won’t be made up. Asked whether it should be for his sake, Kemp laughed.
“I think my teammates would be mad as hell,” he said. “If they were down for that, I’d buy everybody something pretty special. I’d have to bribe them.”
Jansen’s confidence soaring
How dominant is Kenley Jansen?
He is averaging 16.02 strikeouts per nine innings this season, the highest single-season rate in major league history. He has struck out 11 of the last 14 batters he has faced, including two of two Sunday.
Jansen said he has reached a point where he feels something has gone wrong if he gets an out any other way.
“Your confidence is that high,” Jansen said. “When you strike out a guy, you’re like, ‘You could do better than that.’ That’s how I feel right now.”
Rookie hazing
The Dodgers continued their annual tradition of forcing their rookies to wear costumes for their final flight of the season.
Shortstop Dee Gordon dressed as Gumby, closer Javy Guerra as a taco and outfielder Trent Oeltjen as Harry Potter. Reliever Josh Lindblom and catcher Tim Federowicz wore lingerie.
Go beyond the scoreboard
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