Kemp homers in 5th straight game, Dodgers beat Diamondbacks 3-1 to send Torre out a winner

Dodgers beat Arizona 3-1 in Joe Torre’s finale

LOS ANGELES — Matt Kemp homered in his fifth consecutive game and the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-1 in their season finale Sunday, sending Joe Torre into retirement the way he began his managerial career — with a victory.

The Dodgers won seven of their last 10 games to finish with an 80-82 record — their first losing mark since 2005 — in Torre’s third season in Los Angeles. He led them to the playoffs his first two years.

“Thanks JOE!” read a hand-lettered towel held up by a fan in the upper level.

Torre won the first game he managed with the New York Mets 29 years ago. In between, he won six pennants and four World Series titles, all with the New York Yankees. The 70-year-old is fifth on the career wins list.

Torre finished with a 2,326-1,997 regular-season record, going 259-227 in three years with the Dodgers.

Ted Lilly (10-12) allowed one run and four hits, struck out nine and walked two to reach 10 victories for the eighth consecutive season. The left-hander went 7-4 in 12 starts with the Dodgers after being acquired in a trade deadline deal with the Cubs.

Hong-Chih Kuo pitched the ninth to earn his 12th save in 13 chances.

Rodrigo Lopez (7-16) gave up two runs and three hits in five innings, struck out six and walked three to lose his second in a row.

Kemp gave the Dodgers a 2-0 lead with two outs in the first inning, homering into the left-field pavilion. He finished with a career-high 28 homers.

The Diamondbacks made it 2-1 in the fourth on Gerardo Parra’s two-out single that scored Rusty Ryal, who doubled to lead off.

Andre Ethier’s bases-loaded RBI single extended the Dodgers’ lead to 3-1 in the seventh. Ryan Theriot was tagged out at the plate, while Jamey Carroll and Ethier moved up on the throw.

Notes: Dodgers SS Rafael Furcal struck out in his only at-bat. … Kemp played in all 162 games this season, extending his major league-leading streak to 203 games. … Arizona finished 5-13 against the Dodgers, including 2-7 in Los Angeles. … INF John Lindsey, called up after 16 years in the minors only to get his hand broken after 12 at-bats, escorted Torre to the plate with the lineup card. In the seventh, he was introduced as a pinch-hitter before being replaced. … Diamondbacks RHP Aaron Heilman came on in the eighth, becoming the only pitcher with 70 or more appearances in each of the last five seasons. … The Dodgers’ season attendance totaled 3,562,320.