Kemp’s early homer helps Dodgers take 5-2 lead over Cards after 6 innings in playoff opener

Kemp’s HR helps Dodgers lead 5-2 thru 6 in Game 1

LOS ANGELES — Matt Kemp hit a two-run homer off Chris Carpenter and middle reliever Jeff Weaver escaped a bases-loaded jam, helping the Los Angeles Dodgers take a 5-2 lead over the St. Louis Cardinals through six innings Wednesday night in Game 1 of their NL playoff opener.

Dodgers starter Randy Wolf, pitching in the playoffs for the first time in his 11-year career and facing a lineup that batted .234 against lefties this year, lasted only 3 2-3 innings after his teammates staked him to a 3-1 lead.

Skip Schumaker hit an RBI double in the fourth that trimmed the Dodgers’ lead to 3-2. After Wolf hit Matt Holliday with a pitch to load the bases, manager Joe Torre made a change

Weaver relieved and Ryan Ludwick pulled a drive into the right-field corner that barely landed foul. Ludwick then hit a bouncer back to Weaver, who threw to first to end the inning.

Carpenter, the NL ERA leader while going 17-4, went five innings and allowed four runs and nine hits. He escaped a bases-loaded situation in the fourth when he got Casey Blake to line out to right field.

Rafael Furcal extended Los Angeles’ lead to 4-2 in the fifth with a sacrifice fly.

Los Angeles loaded the bases again in the sixth, and Kyle McClellan hit Russell Martin in the ribs to force in Andre Ethier with the Dodgers’ fifth run. Pinch-hitter Jim Thome struck out with the bases loaded, ending the inning.

The Dodgers and Cardinals combined to strand 23 runners over the first six innings, setting a division series record.

St. Louis loaded the bases with no outs in the first. But Wolf managed to allow only one run, and Kemp quickly put Los Angeles ahead.

The Dodgers needed only three pitches, in fact, to take the lead. Furcal led off with a single and Kemp drove Carpenter’s next offering to right center for his first career postseason homer.

Carpenter allowed a pair of two-out singles before striking out Ronnie Belliard. The Cardinals ace was 2-0 against the NL West champions this season.

Yadier Molina came within a few feet of hitting a three-run homer in the St. Louis third, forcing Ethier to make a running catch on the warning track in right field.

The Dodgers added a run in the bottom half when Ethier was hit by a pitch, moved up on a walk to Manny Ramirez and took third on James Loney’s flyout.

Third baseman Mark DeRosa made a diving, backhanded stop of Blake’s infield hit down the line, but his throw to second sailed crazily into right field. Earlier in the game, DeRosa banged his right hand into Loney while scrambling back to first base on a lineout.

The NL Central champion Cardinals threatened from the start. After Holliday struck out, Ludwick blooped an RBI single to center between Kemp and Belliard. Orlando Hudson, the Dodgers’ slick-fielding second baseman for most of the season, started the series on the bench in favor of Belliard, who was acquired from Washington in a three-player trade on Aug. 30.

St. Louis went 5-2 against the Dodgers this season and outscored them 31-19. The Cardinals were back in the playoffs for the first time since winning the 2006 World Series.

Torre was beginning his 14th consecutive playoff run, tying a record for managers set by Atlanta’s Bobby Cox (1991-2005).