Ethier hits two of Dodgers’ four homers to beat Padres 6-4

Dodgers homer four times to beat Padres 6-4

LOS ANGELES — Andre Ethier homered his first two times up, Matt Kemp hit a go-ahead shot, and Orlando Hudson also went deep against Chris Young to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 6-4 victory over the San Diego Padres on Tuesday night.

Chad Billingsley (8-3) overcame a shaky start to tie Johan Santana, Jason Marquis and Matt Cain for the NL lead in wins. The right-hander threw 117 pitches over 5 2-3 innings, allowing three runs and eight hits just hours after suspended slugger Manny Ramirez made a surprise visit to the Dodgers’ clubhouse with 20 games left on his 50-game suspension for violating Major League Baseball’s substance abuse policy.

The defending NL West champions are 19-12 without their enigmatic left fielder in the lineup, and have an eight-game lead over second-place San Francisco. Barring rainouts, Ramirez is eligible to be reinstated on July 3 when the Dodgers are in San Diego.

Jonathan Broxton got his 14th save in 16 chances despite giving up an RBI single in the ninth to David Eckstein. It was the first run Broxton has allowed this season at Dodger Stadium in 18 2-3 innings covering 16 appearances at home.

Young (4-5) was charged with five runs and six hits over five innings in his third consecutive loss. The 6-foot-10 right-hander gave up four home runs for the second time his six-year career.

The Dodgers, who came in with the fourth-fewest home runs in the NL, took a 4-3 lead when Kemp led off the fifth with his seventh of the season.

Three batters later, Hudson drove a 3-2 pitch just over the fence in right-center for his fourth homer — giving Los Angeles a 5-3 lead and ending a drought of 34 games since his last one on April 30 at Dodger Stadium against San Diego’s Josh Geer. Even after he knew it was gone, Hudson continued sprinting around the bases.

Billingsley gave up singles to his first three batters and came within one strike of escaping the inning unscathed. Leadoff batter Tony Gwynn Jr. was thrown out at third while trying to advance on a pitch in the dirt to Brian Giles, but a wild pitch to NL home run leader Adrian Gonzalez put runners at second and third, and Kevin Kouzmanoff lined a 2-2 pitch to right-center for a two-run single after Gonzalez struck out.

Ethier got one of the runs back in the bottom half, homering just inside the right field pole. Kemp tied it in the second with a two-out RBI single, and Ethier gave Los Angeles the lead in the third with his second two-out homer — this one into the right field pavilion on a first-pitch fastball. Ethier is 12 for 29 lifetime against Young, and six of those hits have been home runs.

The multihomer game was the sixth of Ethier’s career and fourth this season. The Dodgers’ right fielder has hit five of his 11 home runs in his last seven games, following a 24-game drought. He also homered twice in Saturday’s 3-2 win over Philadelphia, hitting his second one in the 12th inning for his second walkoff hit in two nights.

San Diego tied it 3-all in the fifth when Young drew a leadoff walk and scored on Giles’ groundout.