The Dodgers took a two-run lead into the ninth inning, but Kenley Jansen allowed three runs with two outs, giving the Houston Astros a 4-3 comeback win over L.A. in the first game of a three-game set at Minute Maid Park. It was the third straight loss and eighth defeat in 10 games for the Dodgers, who fell to seven and a half games out of first place in the National League West. Jansen was wild in the ninth, but was left in to throw 38 pitches, the final one a single by Hunter Pence to score Michael Bourn with the winning run.
The game was looking like a Dodger win, especially after the Dodgers took the lead in the seventh inning. Starter Clayton Kershaw was pulled after throwing 84 pitches in six innings, in favor of Andre Ethier, who didn't start with several nagging injuries from crashing into the wall on Sunday. Ethier delivered an RBI single, a ball that went under Bourn's glove in center field, allowing the Dodgers to take a 3-1 lead.
Matt Kemp hit his 100th career home run, the 16th Los Angeles Dodger and 25th in franchise history, dating back to Brooklyn, to do so. Kemp also became just the sixth Dodger in the 128-year franchise history to have 100 home runs and 100 stolen bases. Chad Billingsley gets the start for the Dodgers on Tuesday, facing J.A. Happ for Houston.
For more news and information on the Dodgers, or on tonight's game, be sure to read the SB Nation blog True Blue LA.