Kemp delivers again

The Dodgers took this one 5-4 on a big walk-off single by Matt Kemp in the bottom of the tenth inning off of Oakland reliever Brad Ziegler. Kemp’s hit came just two pitches after a questionable call at first base on a James Loney grounder.

With runners on second and first, Loney hit a ball on the ground to A’s second baseman Adam Kennedy. Kennedy stepped on second, but his throw took Jason Giambi off the bag at first — or so it seemed. Loney was ruled safe immediately by first-base umpire Adrian Johnson, but Oakland manager Bob Geren came out to protest, the four umpires conferred, and the call was reversed and Loney was ruled out.

This brought Dodgers manager Joe Torre out of the dugout but to no avail, and play went on. Kemp stepped to the plate, took the first pitch for a ball, then knocked the next pitch into right field to break a 4-4 and score Orlando Hudson from third.

The Dodgers put the first runs of the game on the board in the sixth with consecutive RBI doubles from Casey Blake and Loney, but usually-dominant reliever Ramon Troncoso gave up two home runs in the eighth to give the A’s a 4-2 lead.

An RBI single by Blake and an RBI groundout from Andre Ethier tied the score in the eighth, and the score held into the tenth inning.

The win makes the Dodgers 43-22 and 8.5 games ahead of the Giants in the NL West, and moves Oakland to 27-36.

21-year-old A’s righthander Trevor Cahill faces Dodgers righty Hiroki Kuroda tomorrow.