Yasmani Grandal is Dodger with the most clout in win over Padres

Yasmani Grandal took a foul ball off his left wrist in Toronto in early May, suffering a painful bone bruise that made it difficult for the Dodgers catcher to get around on a good fastball and sent his average plummeting below .200.

Grandal was hitting .183 entering Friday night, but the wrist no longer appears to be a problem. Grandal turned viciously on a trio of blazing fastballs, crushing three home runs and driving in six runs to lead the Dodgers to a 10-6 victory over the San Diego Padres in Dodger Stadium.

Grandal had a chance to become only the 17th player in major league history to hit four homers in a game when Yasiel Puig drew a two-out walk ahead of him in the eighth inning.

But all the switch-hitting Grandal, batting from the right side for the first time in the game, could muster was a single to center off left-hander Matt Thornton, capping a career-high five-hit night that raised his average to .204.

“It’s surreal,” Grandal said of his three homers. “You don’t really think about it; it just happens.”

Dodgers left-hander Scott Kazmir lasted three innings, allowing three runs and six hits, striking out five and walking three. He needed 85 pitches to record nine outs, the lackluster effort continuing a string of 17 games, dating to June 20, that a Dodgers starter has failed to face a batter in the seventh inning.

But his bat-wielding teammates took Kazmir off the hook with an ear-splitting display of offense that featured loud contact throughout the evening, much of it supplied by Grandal, whose power display helped end a three-game losing streak.

Grandal turned on a 96-mph fastball from Padres starter Andrew Cashner in the first inning and sent a screamer into the right-field pavilion for a two-run homer and a 4-1 lead.

Justin Turner sparked the rally with a two-out homer to center, his 13th of the season. Adrian Gonzalez singled and scored on Puig’s double to left-center.

Gonzalez walked to to open the third and took second on Puig’s single. Grandal crushed another 96-mph fastball from Cashner for a towering three-run homer to center. Howie Kendrick followed with his fourth homer, to right, for an 8-3 lead.

Grandal passed on a chance for a third homer in four innings, beating an infield shift with a bunt single to third in the fourth. But he led off the seventh with a homer to right, this one on a 97-mph fastball from reliever Jose Dominguez, for a 10-6 lead.

“That’s a tough one to explain,” Manager Dave Roberts said, when asked about a .183 hitter belting three homers in a game. “This is something he’ll always remember. It’s one for the books.”

The final shot gave Grandal 12 homers on the season and seven in his last seven starts. He is the second Dodger to hit three homers in a game this season; Corey Seager accomplished the feat against Atlanta on June 3.

Grandal — who had a two-homer, eight-RBI game last season against Milwaukee — also became the third catcher in Dodgers history to hit three homers in a game. The others are Roy Campanella and Mike Piazza.

“You’re talking about two guys who are Hall of Famers,” Grandal said.

Melvin Upton Jr. had a big night for the Padres, singling and scoring in the first, hitting a two-run homer in the second and adding a solo shot in the fourth. He also singled to load the bases after San Diego had pulled to within 9-6 in the fifth.

But Dodgers right-hander Pedro Baez fielded Wil Myers’ comebacker and threw home to start in inning-ending double play. Baez added a scoreless sixth and seventh, and Joe Blanton (eighth) and Kenley Jansen (ninth) added one-two-three innings.

In an effort to eradicate his first-inning struggles, Kazmir tweaked his pregame routine last Saturday, following his normal warmup by throwing a simulated inning in the bullpen with batters in the box to mimic Colorado’s first three hitters. He threw a scoreless first in an eventual 6-1 win.

The adjustment didn’t help Friday, as Kazmir allowed his 17th first-inning run in 18 starts.

“He just wasn’t sharp,” Roberts said of Kazmir.

Thanks to Grandal’s muscle, he didn’t have to be.

mike.digiovanna@latimes.com

Twitter: @MikeDiGiovanna

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