THE ANGELS have climbed into third-place tie in the AL West; Dodgers maintain lead in NL West.

The Los Angeles Dodgers defended their position atop the National League West on Wednesday with a 5-2 win over the Padres in San Diego.

It also meant a series triumph over one of their most persistent rivals and improved to 41-28, two games ahead of the Padres (38-29).

In a bullpen game in which manager Dave Roberts used eight pitchers to hold the home team to four hits, the Blue Crew benefited from a solo home run from Michael Conforto and a three-run shot by Teo Hernandez.

Angels rally, move into tie for 3rd

The Los Angeles Angels had their own success story, moving into a third-place place tie with the Seattle Mariners (both 33-34) in the American League West, with a 6-5 victory over the Athletics in Anaheim.

Trailing 3-0 early, the Halos scored six runs –two of them on Jo Adell’s 13th home run of the season – in the bottom the sixth and held on for the win, their third in a row.

Mike Trout batted 2-for-3 with a walk and a run scored.

Kyle Hendricks improved his record to 4-6 with six strong innings. He yielded seven hits and two earned runs, while striking out three A’s and walking one.