Dodgers’ Dive Is Now a 11/2

SAN DIEGO —  A marathon has been reduced to an 11-game sprint and the National League West title is at the finish line.

The Dodgers stumbled out of the starting block Tuesday night in a 9-4 loss to the San Diego Padres at Petco Park.

A crowd of 39,428 watched as the Padres overcame an early 2-0 deficit, scoring eight unanswered runs to win the opener of a three-game series.

The Dodgers’ magic number to win their first division title in nine years remained at 11, and their lead over the second-place San Francisco Giants was cut to 1 1/2 games -- their smallest in more than two months.

Adrian Beltre had his seventh multi-homer game of the season for the Dodgers (86-64), driving in their runs with his 46th and 47th and pulling within two of Shawn Green’s franchise record. However, another MVP-type performance from Beltre wasn’t enough for the Dodgers to overcome a shaky outing from starter Jeff Weaver (12-12).

The Dodgers are 2-2 on their final regular-season trip with two games still to be played here before a weekend showdown against the Giants at SBC Park. The rotation is a wreck and the series at San Francisco could become even more challenging if first baseman Green, who is Jewish, decides to sit out the first two games in observance of Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar.

Other than that, the Dodgers are cruising into October.

“Our mind-set is to try to look at the overall picture and just try to win each series,” said Green, who, according to a team official, plans to sit out one game. “It’s easy to get caught up in the short term when they win and we lose.

“It’s easy to say, ‘Oh, no, we lost a game.’ But if we win the rest of our series, we’re going to be the division winner.”

Adam Eaton (11-13) continued his dominance of the Dodgers and the Padres (81-70) got home runs from Ramon Vazquez, Ramon Hernandez and Mark Loretta.

Eaton, who gave up Beltre’s two-run homer in the first, pitched five innings and improved to 4-1 with a 2.87 earned-run average in six starts this season against the Dodgers. The right-hander worked seven scoreless innings Thursday in a 3-0 victory at Dodger Stadium.

“Every game that we play is key now for us to try to win the division,” Beltre said. “We just need to stay focused and try to win every series.”

The Padres broke the game open in a four-run fifth, chasing Weaver while compounding the frustration of the Dodger rotation.

Brian Giles had a leadoff double and Weaver walked Ryan Klesko with one out. Hernandez hit his 16th homer, putting the Padres ahead, 7-2, and ending Weaver’s work. Vazquez, who hit his first homer of the season in the third, contributed a run-scoring single as the Padres batted around.

Weaver gave up nine hits and seven earned runs in 4 2/3 innings -- his second-shortest outing of the season. The right-hander’s ERA increased from 3.77 to 4.00, and his problems mirrored that of the rotation in September.

The group has a 6.66 ERA and only seven quality starts for the Dodgers, who hope to get a lift from Brad Penny tonight.

“This is what I’ve been waiting for,” said Penny, who Manager Jim Tracy said might throw as many as 85 pitches tonight. “It’s been a while since I’ve been able to help these guys. I’m going to give it the best I can, and I think I’ll be all right as long as I make [good] pitches.”

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MAGIC NUMBER

11

Dodgers’ magic number for clinching NL West title

The magic number is any combination of Dodger victories and San Francisco losses totaling 11.