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Aaron Sele
looks to continue his impressive pitching and lead the
Los Angeles Dodgers
to consecutive wins for the first time this month Tuesday when he takes the mound in the opener of a three-game series with
the
San Diego Padres
.
Sele (3-0, 2.33 ERA) hasn't received a decision in his last two starts despite allowing just five earned runs over that span.
He has given up three runs or less in all six of his outings this season.
The right-hander, 2-2 with a 6.28 ERA in five career starts against San Diego (32-31), will be trying to help Los Angeles
(35-28) win back-to-back games for the first time since May 29-30.
The Dodgers are just 5-5 in June after going 18-10 in May, but have managed to take a one-game lead over slumping Arizona
in the NL West. Los Angeles won 6-5 in Colorado on Sunday while the Diamondbacks lost their seventh straight, 15-2 to the
New York Mets
.
Russell Martin
hit a tying RBI double in the ninth inning and Sandy Alomar Jr. followed with a run-scoring pinch-hit single to lead the Dodgers
on Sunday. Rookie outfielder
Matt Kemp
homered twice, giving him six in June, and has a hit in each of his starts and 11 of his 13 games in the majors.
''He's a confident guy, he trusts in himself,'' Alomar said of the 21-year-old Kemp, who is batting .366 and has 15 RBIs.
''He told me in spring training in the outfield one day that he was going to make the club right away, right out of A-ball.
... This guy has such a quick bat for a big guy. That's very rare. So, they can't throw inside on him and now he's laying
off the breaking ball away. He's a special kind of player.''
San Diego has also been struggling in June.
The Padres lost their second straight on Sunday, 7-3 to lowly Florida, and are 4-6 so far in June. They've struggled offensively
of late, and on Sunday, stranded 10 runners and went 3-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
''That's our biggest problem. We created the opportunities but we have to cash in,'' manager
Bruce Bochy
said. ''We're getting out there, we're just not finishing the job.''
San Diego will send ex-Dodger
Chan Ho Park
(3-3, 4.36) to the mound. Park, who went 80-54 with a 3.80 ERA in 221 appearances with Los Angeles from 1994-2001, didn't
receive a decision against his former club on April 30.
The right-hander allowed five runs and six hits over five innings in San Diego's 6-5 win in 10 innings, and is 0-1 with a
6.39 ERA in three career starts against Los Angeles.
San Diego is 3-2 against the Dodgers this season after dropping 11 of the 18 meetings between the teams last season.
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