Padres make hits count

They pounded out 14 hits, they stole five bases and they mounted a furious rally with four runs in the last two innings.

But ultimately, the Dodgers’ hopes of retaining the top spot in the National League West came to a standstill at Dodger Stadium on Friday, one clutch hit and one crucial run short.

The San Diego Padres held on for a 7-6 victory and took a one-game division lead when reliever Trevor Hoffman got Luis Gonzalez to foul out to the catcher with Jeff Kent, the potential the tying run, at second.

It was the 504th save for Hoffman.

With a .244 team batting average coming into play, the Padres were last in the National League and next to last in the majors.

But on Friday night, they were an offensive powerhouse, spraying balls all over the field and one, a three-run homer by Kevin Kouzmanoff, over the right-field wall.

That was in the fourth inning when San Diego broke the game open, at least temporarily, with six runs and six hits, sending 11 men to the plate. The Dodgers did their part by committing two errors in the inning.

The beneficiary of all this unexpected offense was San Diego righthander Chris Young who improved to 8-3 with his first career victory over the Dodgers after coming into the game with an 0-2 mark against them.

Through three innings, however, it was Young who appeared to be on the ropes.

The Dodgers had stolen four bases and appeared to rattle Young, who looked as helpless as a cop trying to direct traffic from the fast lane of the 405.

Several times, he came off the mound, trying to catch a baserunner leaning the wrong way, but to no avail.

Finally, his concern resulted in a balk, which sent San Diego Manager Bud Black and the entire infield to the mound for a consultation.

Young was behind, 2-1, by that point

In the first, the Dodgers had come up with an inning reminiscent of the Maury Wills era to get their first run. With one out, Juan Pierre singled to right, stole second, stole third and came home on a groundout to short by Kent.

The Padres tied the score in the second. After a walk to Kouzmanoff, Jose Cruz Jr. hit a towering drive to right-center. Center fielder Pierre and right fielder Matt Kemp, both in hot pursuit of the ball, seemed to be on a collision course.

They didn’t collide, but then they didn’t catch the ball either. It landed between them at the wall, sending Kouzmanoff home on a triple.

The Dodgers’ legs led them back on top in the third. Rafael Furcal singled to center, stole second and came in when Cruz couldn’t handle Pierre’s line-drive single to left, the ball zipping past him as if it had suddenly kicked into a higher gear.

But then, it was the Padres who picked up the pace, teeing off on Dodgers starter Hong-Chih Kuo (1-4) in the fourth.

There were a few bright spots for the Dodgers. Pierre wound up with three stolen bases, giving him 29 for the season. Catcher Russell Martin stole his 14th base, leaving him four back of the all-time franchise stolen-base record for a catcher, set by Con Daily in 1892.

And Nomar Garciaparra, who had joked before the game that it could take him five years to learn to play third, got his first fielding chance in his third game at the position and handled a blistering line drive by Khalil Greene as if he were Brooks Robinson.

And he broke out of an 0-for-16 slump with three straight singles.

Garciaparra was on deck when Gonzalez popped up, left to wonder what might have been.

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steve.springer@latimes.com

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This matchup will be tough to beat

A week before the All-Star game, the Dodgers feature an All-Star matchup of their own tonight at Dodger Stadium, pitting two right-handers with a combined 19-3 record. Either the Dodgers’ Brad Penny or the Padres’ Jake Peavy could be picked to start the July 10 All-Star game at San Francisco. “He’s a guy you hate to play against but would love to have on your team,” Penny said of Peavy.

*--* PENNY PEAVY 10-1 WIN-LOSS 9-2 2.04 ERA 2.14 105 2/3 INNINGS PITCHED 105 91 HITS 82 70 STRIKEOUTS 113 2 HOME RUNS 1

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