failed to score a point for the second straight gam

SAN DIEGO -- Ian Kennedy has the luxury of pitching in spacious Petco Park. One would think, anyway. "All my wins have been on the road," Kennedy said. "That is how it works sometimes." Kennedy earned his first home victory of the season on Sunday, pitching the San Diego Padres past the Chicago Cubs 4-3. Kennedy (3-6) allowed one run and two hits with six strikeouts. He walked two in earning his first win in five starts. Huston Street got his 14th save in as many chances despite giving up Starlin Castros two-run homer in the ninth inning. The Cubs, who had four hits, were trying to win their first series since Sept. 9-11 in Cincinnati. The Padres backed Kennedy with some rare run support. "He deserved that one," Padres manager Bud Black said. "Hes been a victim of not a lot of runs and if you look across the board at his numbers, all that stuff, hes been good. We just havent scored for him and Im glad we got it done in the bottom half of the sixth." It appeared Kennedy was headed for another tough-luck loss. He was trailing 1-0 when he left for a pinch-hitter in the sixth. The Padres scored four times in the inning, surprising Chicago starter Jason Hammel (5-3). "I felt in complete command," Hammel said. "I felt like I was going to go complete-game shutout. Everything was working." Chase Headley tied it with a sacrifice fly and the Padres went ahead 2-1 Carlos Quentins pinch-hit single off reliever James Russell. Two walks by Hammel helped extend the inning. For Quentin, it was his third pinch-hit RBI in two games after a two-run, homer in Saturdays loss. "We were going to stay away a little bit from Quentin," Cubs manager Rick Renteria said. "The ball just came back out over the plate." Jedd Gyorko added an RBI double and when centre fielder Emilio Bonifacio misplayed the ball for an error, pinch-runner Tyson Ross also scored for a 4-1 lead. Ross, a pitcher, ran for Quentin and scored a run for the first time in the majors. He slid home, although there was no throw to the plate. "I figured better safe than sorry," Ross said. A sixth-inning home run by Junior Lake gave the Cubs a brief lead, although it took a little while for him to celebrate. Lake hit an arching drive to left field and Seth Smith appeared as if he caught the ball before it reached the seats. A disappointed Lake nearly veered off the basepaths, but he resumed his trot third when umpire Greg Gibson gave the home run signal. Hammel retired 11 straight before Yonder Alonso lined a single in the fifth inning for the Padres first hit. Alonso stole second and advanced to third on Cameron Maybins one-out infield single. But Maybin was picked off first by Hammel and Rene Rivera struck out to end the threat. The Cubs didnt have much luck against Kennedy early. Castro got into scoring position in the second inning after a leadoff single and a walk, but Kennedy got the next three batters. Hammel pitched 5 2-3 innings, allowing three runs on three hits and two walks, with five strikeouts. But this day belonged to Kennedy, and that it came at Petco Park made all the better. "Its always great to see runs scored like that," Kennedy said, "whether youre pitching or not." NOTES: The Padres are encouraged with the progress RHP Andrew Cashner is making with his sore right elbow. Cashner will throw again on Monday after playing catch on Saturday. ... Padres LHP Robbie Erlin, on the DL with a sore throwing elbow, is scheduled to throw next weekend ... Quentin is expected to start on Monday against the Diamondbacks. Quentin had missed four games with a groin injury. ... Luis Valbuenas eight-game hitting streak for the Cubs, which tied a career high, was snapped. ... Cubs RHP Jeff Samardzija (0-4, 1.96) faces Giants RHP Yusmeiro Petit (3-1, 4.76) on Monday. It will be Samardzijas 200th career game. ... Ross (5-4, 2.64) goes against Arizona RHP Brandon McCarthy (1-6, 4.67) on Monday. EL SEGUNDO, Calif. - Although Chicago and Los Angeles have won the last two Stanley Cup titles, Matt Greene and his fellow Kings realize the Blackhawks have been superior whenever the two championship teams were on the ice together recently. Chicagos recent mastery of the Kings completely came apart in one crazy period, and the Blackhawks are headed to the West Coast to figure out how to get it back. When the teams return Saturday night for Game 3 of the Western Conference finals, the Kings hope to build on their five-goal third period in a 6-2 victory on Wednesday night, evening the series in dramatic fashion. Until Game 2, Chicago had beaten the Kings six straight times and in nine of the clubs last 10 meetings dating back to last seasons conference finals. The Blackhawks had been faster and more offensively creative than the Kings, but it all went away in a barrage of goals that set a distinctly different tone for Game 3. "Its been a series thats gone in their favour for the last couple of years now," Greene said Thursday at the Kings training complex. "Weve got to do our best to change that. If we could put a finger on it, we would. But its up to us to figure it out and to keep it going and get some more wins. ... I dont think they have a mental edge on us, no. Youve just got to go out and play." Both teams essentially took Thursday off, gathering only for travel or a team meeting. While the Kings downplayed the importance of momentum from their win, the Blackhawks had an extra day to absorb the shock of their second four-goal defeat in the last six playoff games. "I woke up this morning way more angry than I exited the game," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said Thursday before the team flew to the West Coast. "Normally its the other way around. ... A game like that is a game that should get your attention, and I think thats where were at." Quenneville felt the loss was a significant setback for the Blackhawks only because of how it occurred. The two-time champion coach couldnt recall such an abrupt reversal of momentum against Chicago in any game this season. Quenneville thought his team essentially played a perfect game for the first 38 minutes, taking a 2-0 lead before it all fell apart with Los Angeles first goal. The Blackhawks arent a team that falls apart, but the Kings have a wway of making opponents do things they never imagined under playoff pressure.dddddddddddd "I think it was probably a little bit of a shock to us all," Chicago defenceman Nick Leddy said. "But thats how playoffs are." The Kings feel it wasnt just momentum that gave them home-ice advantage in this series. Los Angeles had been making strides against the defending champions for months, and coach Darryl Sutter thought his team played much better in its series-opening defeat than its victory. "I dont think it was momentum," Sutter said. "It was more once we were down two (goals), I think it was our ability — and were good at that — our ability to stay with it and stick with the game." That game is showing a few unexpected facets lately. The Kings are now the highest-scoring team in the Stanley Cup playoffs with 3.25 goals per game, a shocking number for a defence-first team that struggled mightily to score for much of the regular season. But the Kings success in Game 2 was due to its usual strengths on defence. Los Angeles defence on Chicagos top scorers was uniformly solid. Anze Kopitar shadowed Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews, who didnt record a shot, while Patrick Kane failed to score a point for the second straight game. The Kings excelled on special teams, killing a two-man Chicago advantage and scoring the tying and go-ahead goals on their own power plays. Los Angeles also dominated the faceoff circle, following up its impressive work late in the second round against Anaheim. "Theyre huge momentum-swingers every time," Greene said. "A good (penalty-kill) can do wonders for you in terms of momentum, and a good power play. The coaches do a good job emphasizing you dont need to score on the power play. You just need to make sure you build momentum and get a good two minutes going in their zone. Last night, everything was clicking. Those were two huge power-play goals for us there. They really turned around the game in our favour." Bruising forward Andrew Shaw is expected to be available to the Blackhawks for Game 3 after missing Wednesdays game with a lower-body injury, his seventh straight game out of the lineup. The Kings arent likely to see defenceman Robyn Regehr, whose knee injury has kept him out for eight games. ' ' '