Dodgers find a victory there for the taking

Joe Torre warned there would be nights like this, when a pitcher like Jake Peavy would walk into the ballpark and turn the Dodgers’ potent Manny-led lineup into something far less formidable.

Clayton Kershaw answered the call. So did Will Ohman and Jonathan Broxton.

Kershaw pitched seven scoreless innings and the bullpen tossed two more Friday night to set up a bases-loaded walk-off walk by Russell Martin in the ninth inning that sent the Dodgers to a 1-0 victory over the San Diego Padres. The Dodgers improved to 8-0 at Dodger Stadium to remain the only team in the majors with a perfect home record.

This on a night when Peavy, whom the Dodgers beat for the first time in six seasons on opening day, had eight strikeouts and held them to two hits and a walk over eight scoreless innings.

“It’s great what he did, matching Peavy, because Peavy was on his game tonight,” Torre said of Kershaw, who held the Padres to four hits and two walks while striking out three.

Kershaw wasn’t alone. Ohman rescued Ronald Belisario by getting the Dodgers out of a two-on, one-out situation in the eighth and Broxton bulled his way through a 1-2-3 ninth.

The Dodgers improved to 16-8 and maintained their 3 1/2 -game lead over second-place San Francisco in the National League West.

Torre made it clear in an afternoon chat with reporters that he didn’t think his team could maintain its current pace if it continued to rely so heavily on its offense, which went into the game leading the NL with a .290 batting average.

“Eventually, it’s going to burn out over the long haul,” Torre said. “It’s nice to score five, six, seven runs a game but when all of a sudden that’s not enough, you’ve got an issue. You’re not always going to have that, everybody swinging the bats pretty well.”

In the Dodgers’ previous two games, starters Eric Stults and James McDonald lasted a combined 4 1/3 innings.

McDonald lasted a mere 1 2/3 innings Thursday night against San Diego but the Dodgers won, 8-5.

Could something like that become routine?

“Over the long haul, I really don’t want to take that chance,” Torre said. “I’m not saying it can’t happen. I really don’t bank on it.”

Torre has hinted that changes could be made to the rotation, namely the additions of former All-Stars Eric Milton and Shawn Estes, who are with triple-A Albuquerque.

Like Stults and McDonald, Kershaw might have been a demotion candidate if the Dodgers had more pitching depth. He was dismal in his previous two starts, as he dropped decisions in both games and was pounded for a combined 15 runs in nine innings.

The two poor starts were on the road, where Kershaw was 2-3 with a 5.36 earned-run average last season.

Torre said he recently reminded Kershaw, “It’s not the end of the world.”

Torre, pitching coach Rick Honeycutt and hitting coach Don Mattingly met with Kershaw after his last start, offering him tips on what he could do in certain situations.

The kid came out dealing Friday. There were brushes with trouble, but Kershaw managed to match Peavy zero for zero.

“That’s something I’m trying to work on, with runners in scoring position, slowing the game down,” Kershaw said.

For the deadlock to be broken, Peavy had to come out of the game.

With one out and Orlando Hudson on second after a wild pitch, Padres reliever Duaner Sanchez opted to intentionally walk Manny Ramirez with a 3-2 count. He walked Matt Kemp two batters later to load the bases.

Then Martin walked.

The walk-off walk was the second of the season for the Dodgers, who beat San Francisco on April 15 when James Loney drew a free pass with the bases loaded.

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dylan.hernandez@latimes.com