By Yoon Chul
Korea Times Intern
San Diego Padres pitcher Baek Cha-seung earned his fifth win of the season Monday in a 4-0 victory against the Los Angeles Dodgers in San Diego.
Baek, who lasted only 3 2/3 innings and allowed seven runs on eight hits in his previous outing against the Dodgers on Sept. 2, pitched much better Monday, allowing three hits in seven innings to win for the first time at home this season.
After coming to the Padres in a trade with the Seattle Mariners in May, Baek was 0-7 with a 5.94 ERA at Petco Park before Monday's win.
Dodgers pitcher Greg Maddux, who has 354 career victories, gave up a two-run home run to Adrian Gonzalez in the first inning.
Baek, who was born in South Korea before becoming a U.S. citizen, singled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Kevin Kouzmanoff in the third inning.
Kouzmanoff added an RBI single in the fifth.
Baek ran in to trouble against the Dodgers in the fifth, allowing runners to reach second and third with two outs. But the next batter, Maddux, grounded out to end the scoring threat for the Dodgers, who had an eight-game winning streak snapped.
Baek allowed a one-out double to Andre Ethier in the sixth. But Manny Ramirez, the National League (NL) Player of the Month for August, struck out on a full count and James Loney grounded out for the third out.
Baek was taken out for a pinch hitter in the seventh. He improved his record to 5-10, while his ERA dropped to 5.07 this season.
The Padres, who are last in the NL West division, have a 56-88 record, while the first-place Dodgers are 73-71, giving them a 1 1/2-game lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks.