The Padres were unable to beat Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers in the rubber game as they lost the game and the series on Sunday. Another shoutout on Friday made way to a satisfying win on Saturday. But Kershaw beat the Padres for the third time Sunday, earning him the pitching “triple-crown”. The Padres now have only three games remaining, as they host the Cubs for their final series starting Monday. Below is a gme-by-game recap of their series against the Dodgers.

September 23^rd, 2011 Dodgers 2, Padres 0

WP Ted Lilly (11-14) 6.1IP 4H 0R 0ER 2BB 7K 0HR

LP Wade LeBlanc (4-6) 7IP 4H 2R 2ER 0BB 10K 1HR

S Javy Guerra (20) 1IP 0H 0R 0ER 0BB 1K 0HR

Wade LeBlanc pitched his finest outing of the season, allowing onlt two runs on four hits. He walked none and struck out a team-high 10 batters, but all that got him was his sixth loss as the Padres were shutout for the MLB-leading 19^th time, 2-0 on Friday night.

The Padres inept offense left seven men on base, not getting a single hit in eight at-bats with runners in scoring position.

The Dodgers, on the other hand, took advantage and jumped to an early lead in the second inning. Jerry Sands doubled (14) and then advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Trent Oltjen. Russell Mitchell then hit a slow grounder to third baseman Andy Parriono whose only play was to first base, allowing Sands to score.

Matt Kemp added an insurance run when he launched a 400-plus foot bomb to right-center of LeBlanc. His 37^th homer tied him for the NL lead, putting him in first place of two of three categories for the triple-crown.

Javy Guerra pitched a perfect ninth for his 20^th save on the year, completing the Dodgers 12^th win in 16 tries.

September 24^th, 2011 Padres 3, Dodgers 0

WP Aaron Harang (14-7) 8.IP 3H 0R 0ER 0BB 5K 0HR

LP Chad Billingsley (11-11) 5IP 4H 3R 2ER 3BB 3K 0HR

S Heath Bell (42) 1IP 1H 0R 0ER 0BB 1K 0HR

Aaron Harang’s last start of 2011 for his boyhood team was a fine one as he went eight strong innings to help even the series with the Dodgers with a 3-0 win, Saturday night. Harang and closer Heath Bell combined for the shutout, giving Bell his 42^nd save of the season. Neither pitcher walked a batter, giving the Padres staff just one walk in the last four games.

Harang got some run support to work with during a wild two minutes in the fifth inning. With runners on first and second with two outs, Will Venable slapped a curveball up the middle into centerfield for an RBI single, scoring Anthony Rizzo. Orlando Hudson then knocked a grounder to left, scoring Andy Parrino and pushing Venable to second. With Maybin hitting, catcher Tim Federowicz threw the ball away on a snap-throw pickoff attempt to first, allowing Venable to score all the way from second, putting the Friars up by three.

Parrino stole the show with a pair of magnificient plays at shortstop to start the seventh inning. Juan Rivera hit a groundball up the middle the Parrino went t the ground to get, popped up and threw a two-hopper to Rizzo, who did the splits to get the putout. The next batter James Loney hit one even harder upm the middle. Parrino flew out of nowhere to snag the ball and in one motion popped up and fired a strike to Rizzo to get the speedy Loney, getting a standing ovation from the home crowd.

Heath Bell took over for Harang in the ninth and gave up a single to Dee Gordon on a slow grounder to Hudson, who made a nice flip to Rizzo, but not in time. After that he got behind the next batter 3-0 before striking out Jerry Sands swinging. He then coaxed a grounder from Matt Kemp to Hudson who flung the ball to Parrino who relayed the ball to first to complete the double play despite taking a hard slide from Gordon, giving the Padres the win.

September 23^rd, 2011 Dodgers 6, Padres 2

W Clayton Kershaw (21-5) 7.1IP 4H 2R 2ER 1BB 6K 1HR

LP Cory Luebke (6-10) 6IP 5H 4R 3ER 4BB 6K 0HR

Clayton Kershaw may have solidified the Cy Young Award in his favor, winning his 21^st game of the year on Sunday, tying him for the NL lead and giving him the pitching “trip-crown”. He added six strikeouts his NL leading 242. His two runs allowed raised his MLB leading from 2.27 to 2.28. The win also gave the Dodgers the series win, having bested the Padres 13 times in 18 tries.

The Dodgers got two in the first inning before Kershaw even threw a pitch. Jamey Carroll drew a one-out walk and then was driven in by a Matt Kemp double (32). After a flyout by Juan Rivera, Kemp scored on a RBI single by Aaron Miles.

Los Angeles again scored two in the fifth beginning with a one-out Carroll walk. Carroll made his way to second on a fielding error by Alberto Gonzalez, allowing Kemp to reach safely as well. Juan Rivera then singled to left scoring Kemp. Aaron Miles then hit a grounder third that Gonzalez attempted to turn into a double-play. But Miles beat out the relay to keep the inning alive and score the run.

The Padres broke up Kershaw’s shutout in the bottom of the fifth with Aaron Cunningham’s solo shot (3) a few rows beyond the fence in left field.

Rod Barajas hit a two-run jack of his own to push the lead to five. His 16^th homer of the season drove in Jerry Sands who walked earlier.

The Padres scored again in the bottom half of the inning, starting with a RBI triple (2) by Alberto Gonzalez who scored Orlando Hudson, prompting Dodger skipper Don Mattingly to pull Kershaw in favor of Kensley Jansen.

Will Venable lost his bat twice on consecutive swings, once to right field and the other into the crowd before he struck out looking for the second out. Maybin then struck out to end the inning.

Closer Javy Guerra entered the ninth inning in a non-save opportunity. After striking out Jason Bartlett he gave up a single to Nick Hundley before walking Guzman on four pitches. But he got Chris Denorfia to hit into a 6-4-3 double-play to end the game.