NEW YORK (AP) — Andre Ethier got back on track with a two-run homer, Clayton Kershaw struck out eight and the struggling Los Angeles Dodgers beat the New York Mets 4-2 on Sunday to snap a four-game losing streak.

Ethier also singled after going 0 for 4 on Saturday night to end his 30-game hitting streak. He wound up one game shy of Willie Davis’ club record set in 1969.

Kershaw (4-3) was rarely in trouble while beating the Mets for the third straight time. The left-hander gave up one run on six hits and three walks in 6 2-3 innings to give the Dodgers a much-needed lift after they had lost six of their previous seven.

Vicente Padilla gave up an RBI triple to Jose Reyes in the ninth before finishing for his fourth career save and second of the season. Padilla is closing games while Jonathan Broxton is sidelined with an ailing right elbow.

R.A. Dickey (1-4) kept New York in the game with his baffling knuckleball, allowing only one unearned run before Ethier’s two-run shot in the seventh inning. That doomed Dickey to his fourth loss in six starts since beating Florida in his season debut on April 3.

New York jumped ahead in the first inning when Kershaw issued a pair of walks and Ronny Paulino’s two-out base hit brought home Justin Turner, but the lead didn’t last long.

The Dodgers tied it in the third when Kershaw was hit by a pitch on the foot, then slid into second base on a passed ball. He advanced to third on a groundout before scoring on a base hit by Aaron Miles through the right side of the infield.

Los Angeles pulled ahead in the fourth on an RBI grounder by Rod Barajas.

The Dodgers wasted a chance in the fifth, when Jamey Carroll led off with a grounder to first base. Ike Davis fielded the bouncing ball but his toss forced Dickey to sky high to snare the throw, and he was unable to slap on the tag while covering the bag.

Miles and Ethier followed with singles to load the bases with none out, but Matt Kemp chopped into a 1-2-3 double play and Juan Uribe grounded out to end the inning.

Uribe ended up going 0 for 4 and was hitless in 14 at-bats for the series, and Los Angeles went 0 for 5 with the bases loaded the final two games against New York.

The Dodgers also ended up stranding seven on base Sunday, and 32 for the three-game set, though it didn’t hurt them in the finale — even if it did get tense in the seventh inning.

There were already runners on the corners with two outs when manager Don Mattingly opted to lift Kershaw for a righty-righty matchup. Kenley Jansen promptly walked David Wright to load the bases, but escaped the jam when he got Jason Bay to line out to left field.

The Mets, who stranded 10 in the game, went down with a whimper the rest of the way.

NOTES: Kershaw beat Dickey the last time he faced the Mets, 1-0 last July 25. … Mike O’Connor pitched two perfect innings of relief for New York. … The Mets put RHP Chris Young (shoulder tightness) on the DL and selected the contract of LHP Pat Misch from Triple-A Buffalo before the game. … Fitness celebrity Jillian Michaels was on hand for the game.

LOS ANGELES, May 3 (UPI) — Clayton Kershaw tossed seven solid innings and Andre Ethier extended his hitting streak Monday in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 5-2 win over the Chicago Cubs.

Kershaw (3-3) held the Cubs to two runs on eight hits over seven innings, issuing no walks and striking out four as the Dodgers beat the Cubs for the 10th time in 13 home games.

Vicente Padilla hurled a scoreless eighth and Jonathan Broxton earned his seventh save with a 1-2-3 ninth for Los Angeles, which won the first of a three-game series against Chicago.

The Dodgers took the lead on second-inning RBI from Juan Uribe and Ivan De Jesus. Jerry Sands added a two-run double, went to third on Marlon Byrd’s error and came home on Ethier’s single in the fifth.

Ethier extended his hitting streak to 28 games, moving him to within three of the franchise record set by Willie Davis in 1969.

James Russell (1-4) was roughed up for five runs (four earned) on six hits in 4 2/3 innings for the Cubs, who lost for the fourth time in six games.

CHICAGO — As expected, the Los Angeles Dodgers activated veteran right-hander Vicente Padilla from the 15-day disabled list for the first time this season before Friday’s game with the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.

Padilla, who had been sidelined since undergoing surgery in February to free a nerve trapped under a muscle in his right forearm, made two rehabilitation appearances this week at Class A Rancho Cucamonga.

Because the Dodgers have five established starters and because Padilla’s injury prevented him from building up innings in spring training, he will be going to the bullpen on a full-time basis for the first time since 2001, when he was with the Philadelphia Phillies. Since then, Padilla has made just one relief appearance, pitching two shutout innings for the Dodgers on Sept. 30, 2009, at San Diego.

Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said there are no restrictions on Padilla, other than that he would prefer to use Padilla to begin an inning.

Mattingly also said that because Padilla has been a starter for the past nine seasons, there will be some trial and error as Padilla figures out how quickly he can get adequately warmed up in the bullpen before entering a game.

Padilla went 6-5 with a 4.07 ERA in 16 starts for the Dodgers last season, missing almost two months early in the season with the forearm injury that eventually led to surgery two months ago. He also missed two weeks late in the season with a bulging disk in his neck.

To clear a roster spot for Padilla, the Dodgers optioned reliever Ramon Troncoso to Triple-A Albuquerque immediately after Thursday’s 12-inning win over the Atlanta Braves.

Tony Jackson covers the Dodgers for ESPNLosAngeles.com.

Follow Tony Jackson on Twitter: @dodgerscribe

By Eric Stephen – Editor

Read More: Lance Cormier (P – LOS), Scott Elbert (P – LOS), Los Angeles Dodgers

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Mar 27, 2011 - Opening day rosters don’t need to be finalized until Thursday, but the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 25-man roster is pretty much set. The Dodgers will open with four players on the disabled list — catcher Dioner Navarro (strained oblique), third baseman Casey Blake (back injury), and pitchers Jon Garland (oblique strain) and Vicente Padilla (arm surgery) — though all four are expected back at various points in April.

The Dodgers have two off days in the first week of the season, and they won’t use a fifth starter. Tim Redding appears to have beaten John Ely for the fifth starter spot, as manager Don Mattingly said he was lining up Redding to start April 10, the final game of a three-game series in San Diego against the Padres. However, Redding will begin the season in the minor leagues before having his contract purchased for that start on April 10.

As for the opening day roster, the final bullpen spot looks like it’s between Scott Elbert and non-roster invitee Lance Cormier, according to Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:

Meanwhile, the final bullpen spot will apparently go to left-hander Scott Elbert, with one caveat. Lance Cormier, the only other contender after Ramon Troncoso was optioned to Minor League camp Sunday morning, was asked to accept a Minor League assignment, but he said he told the club he would not.

Cormier has an out in his contract starting Sunday, but he said he was not yet a free agent and that “the ball is in their court.”

On Friday, True Blue LA took a guess at the opening day roster, and it appears that, barring a setback, this will be the final 25 on Thursday night as the Dodgers open at home against the San Francisco Giants:

• Starting Pitchers (4): Clayton Kershaw, Chad Billingsley, Ted Lilly, Hiroki Kuroda
• Relief Pitchers (7): Jonathan Broxton, Hong-Chih Kuo, Matt Guerrier, Kenley Jansen, Blake Hawksworth, Scott Elbert, Mike MacDougal*
• Catchers (2): Rod Barajas, Hector Gimenez
• Infielders (6): James Loney, Jamey Carroll, Rafael Furcal, Juan Uribe, Aaron Miles*, Ivan DeJesus
• Outfielders (6): Andre Ethier, Matt Kemp, Marcus Thames, Jay Gibbons, Tony Gwynn Jr., Xavier Paul

*Non-roster invitees

DeJesus will stay around, primarily playing second base, until Blake is activated from the disabled list. Uribe will open the season at third base, and move to second once Blake returns. The Dodgers will have to make another roster move on April 10 to accommodate either Redding or Ely to start.

As of the end of their game on Sunday, the Dodgers still technically have 36 players in big league camp, so several cuts will be made over the next few days.

For more Dodgers news and information, be sure to read the SB Nation blog True Blue LA.

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Dioner Navarro was scratched from the starting lineup for Thursday’s Cactus League game against the Colorado Rockies and sent for an MRI exam after feeling pain in his right side taking a swing during a morning session of batting practice.

“That is the first time in my career [to feel something in my side],” Navarro said. “I can’t tell you how bad it is. It doesn’t seem to be that bad, but we’ll see how it responds tomorrow. As soon as I felt it, I shut it down. I didn’t want to aggravate anything in there.”

Results of the MRI aren’t expected until Friday. But with the season opener now just a week away, Navarro’s injury at least raises the possibility that he could become the fourth Dodgers player expected to begin the season on the disabled list, where he would join pitchers Vicente Padilla and Jon Garland and third baseman Casey Blake.

The former American League All-Star signed a one-year, $1 million contract this winter to be the Dodgers backup catcher.

If Navarro misses Opening Day, he likely would be replaced on the roster by either Hector Gimenez, a minor league free agent the Dodgers signed over the winter and added to the 40-man roster and who is having a solid spring, or A.J. Ellis, a longtime Dodgers prospect who played in 44 games for the major league club last year.

Dodgers manager Don Mattingly happened to be watching Navarro take batting practice when the injury happened.

“He took one swing and hit a line drive, and I could see him going kind of like this,” Mattingly said, rubbing his right abdomen. “I said, ‘What happened, did you [hurt] that side?’ He was like, ‘Yeah.’ I talked to him before he went for the MRI, and he said, ‘I listened to you, and I didn’t stay in there.’ We have been trying to get these guys, if they feel something, even a little thing, to let somebody know.”

Navarro, 27, became the Dodgers’ primary catcher midway through the 2005 season and held that job until early in 2006, when an injury opened the door for highly touted catching prospect Russell Martin. The Dodgers traded Navarro to Tampa Bay in a five-player deal on June 27, 2006, and he became an All-Star as the Rays’ primary catcher in 2008.

But Navarro lost his job in Tampa Bay last year and wound up spending a significant part of the season at Triple-A Durham. After he hit .194 in the majors, the Rays non-tendered him this winter. The Dodgers, who themselves non-tendered Martin, re-signed veteran Rod Barajas to be their primary catcher, then brought Navarro back in December to be Barajas’ backup.

Tony Jackson covers the Dodgers for ESPNLosAngeles.com. Follow him on Twitter.

Already minus one pitcher, this was not what the Los Angeles Dodgers wanted to see: starter Jon Garland taking himself out early because of pain in his left side.

Garland left after one pitch to Josh Wilson with two outs in the second inning and will get examined, another setback for the Dodgers during their 9-4 loss to the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday.

Garland, projected as the Dodgers’ fifth starter, might have injured his oblique, manager Don Mattingly said.

“I don’t think he’s willing to say that until he gets the results, but he seemed to be leaning that way,” Mattingly said.

And, he added, oblique injuries generally are “not a two-week thing, for sure.” They normally take longer to heal.

The Dodgers already are without pitcher Vicente Padilla. In the first days of spring training, the right-handed Padilla had surgery to repair a nerve trapped by a tendon in his pitching arm.

Padilla could miss the first month of the regular season.

Rangers

Brandon Webb threw to hitters for the first time this spring training, throwing 62 pitches during batting practice for Texas.

After his 14-minute session, Webb said he felt good.

The 2006 NL Cy Young Award winner hasn’t pitched in a major-league game since the 2009 opener for the Diamondbacks because of shoulder surgery.

He signed with this off-season with the AL champions, who hope he will be part of their starting rotation, though they know the right-hander likely will not be ready for the start of the regular season.

Webb is scheduled to throw another batting-practice session Saturday. The Rangers haven’t said when he will pitch in a game.

Indians

Cleveland outfielder Grady Sizemore, recovering from microfracture surgery on his left knee in June, said he hopes to be cleared to run the bases this weekend.

On Friday, pitcher Anthony Reyes will throw batting practice to Sizemore. Reyes is rehabbing from elbow surgery.

- Third baseman Jason Donald, who has been out because of a sore left hand after getting hit by a pitch Saturday, is expected to play today.

Royals

Former NFL player Pat White told Kansas City that he is retiring from baseball.

White, 26, signed a minor-league contract with the Royals after being released by the Miami Dolphins in September. Kansas City then sent the outfielder to the Fall Instructional League.

The Royals said that White did not report to spring training.

White was a star quarterback at West Virginia, a dual threat as a passer and runner.

White Sox

Chicago optioned right-handed pitchers Lucas Harrell and Jhonny Nunez to Triple-A Charlotte.

The club reassigned right-handed pitcher Kyle Bellamy, left-handed pitcher Charlie Leesman, catchers Josh Phegley and Jared Price and outfielder Brandon Short to minor-league camp.