Dodgers avoid a sweep by Rockies

What happened Wednesday night was bound to eventually happen.

Matt Kemp came to life. So did Shane Victorino. The Dodgers pounded baseball’s worst pitching staff and claimed a 6-4 victory at Dodger Stadium, which spared them from being swept in their three-game series by the last-place Colorado Rockies.

Kemp was three for four with a home run and three runs batted in.

Victorino had his best game since his move to the Dodgers from the Philadelphia Phillies at the July 31 nonwaiver trade deadline, as the leadoff hitter was three for five with three runs scored, a stolen base and an RBI.

“When I came here, that’s the job I was asked to do, to be at the top of the lineup, be a catalyst,” Victorino said.

Andre Ethier contributed a pair of hits. Mark Ellis walked three times and drove in a run. Hanley Ramirez drew a bases-loaded walk.

All this from a team that was held to one run by the Rockies over the previous two days.

“We saw what we’re capable of,” Manager Don Mattingly said.

Players said they were inspired by a pregame visit to the clubhouse by Sandy Koufax.

“It’s definitely good to see him,” Kemp said. “He’s one of the legends.”

Benefiting from the offensive awakening was Chad Billingsley, who improved to 4-0 since he was activated from the disabled list July 23.

Billingsley wasn’t quite as sharp as he was over his previous three outings, when he held opponents to a combined two runs over 201/3 innings. But he did enough, overcoming an inside-the-park home run by Eric Young Jr. on the first at-bat of the game to limit the Rockies to four runs and seven hits over 6 1/3 innings.

The Dodgers will travel on Thursday to Miami, where they are set to begin a 10-game trip the next day. After facing the lowly Marlins for three games, they will visit two playoff contenders: the Pittsburgh Pirates and Atlanta Braves.

With 50 games remaining in the regular season, the Dodgers trail the first-place San Francisco Giants in the National League West by 11/2 games. The third-place Arizona Diamondbacks are 31/2 games back of the Dodgers.

The Dodgers found themselves behind early Wednesday, as Young led off the game by hitting a ball over Kemp’s head in center field. The ball took an angled bounce off the wall, allowing Young to score and put the Rockies ahead, 1-0.

“I misjudged it,” Kemp said.

The visitors doubled the lead to 2-0 later in the inning when Tyler Colvin singled in Dexter Fowler.

One swing by Kemp put the Dodgers in front, 3-2, as he hit an off-speed pitch by Rockies starter Jeff Francis into the left-field pavilion for a three-run home run. The home run was Kemp’s 17th of the season.

“I haven’t been hitting too well with runners in scoring position the last two days,” Kemp said. “I finally did something to get the momentum going.”

The Rockies leveled the score, 3-3, on a run-scoring single by DJ LeMahieu in the fourth inning.

The Dodgers moved back into the lead, 4-3, when Ramirez drew a bases-loaded walk an inning later against reliever Carlos Torres.

Two insurance runs were added in the sixth inning, when Matt Treanor scored on a single by Victorino and Victorino scored on a single by Mark Ellis. Victorino scored from first base on Ellis’ hit, which was to right-center field. The Dodgers were up, 6-3.

After the game, Mattingly informed rookie outfielder Jerry Sands that he would be sent to triple-A Albuquerque to make room on the roster for utilityman Adam Kennedy, who will be activated from the 15-day disabled list Friday.

The decision to demote Sands means Juan Uribe will remain on the team.

The Dodgers also announced that outfielder Tony Gwynn Jr., who was designated for assignment Monday, accepted an assignment to Albuquerque rather than become a free agent.

dylan.hernandez@latimes.com