SAN DIEGO (Interstat) — Emmet Sheehan turned in a solid start and the Los Angeles Dodgers used a three-run fifth inning to beat the San Diego Padres 4-2 on Sunday evening at PETCO Park, splitting the three-game series.

The Dodgers improved to 54-30, while the Padres fell to 43-39. Sheehan earned the win, his fourth against five losses, allowing two runs on five hits over 5 2/3 innings. He struck out seven and walked two. Edgardo Henriquez pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his first save of the season. Michael King took the loss, dropping to 5-7 after surrendering four runs on three hits over 4 1/3 innings. He walked three and struck out five.

The game remained scoreless through the first two innings, with both starters working efficiently. King retired the side in order in the first, though he hit Andy Pages with a pitch, and then stranded a runner in the second. Sheehan faced the minimum through two, striking out three.

Los Angeles broke through in the third. Alex Freeland led off with a single to left, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Chuckie Robinson, and scored when Shohei Ohtani lined a single to left. King escaped further damage by striking out Pages and getting Freddie Freeman to strike out looking.

The Padres answered in the fourth. Manny Machado led off the inning by launching his 15th home run of the season to left-center field, tying the game at 1-1. Sheehan retired the next three hitters in order, leaving the contest deadlocked.

The pivotal moment came in the fifth inning. King’s command wavered, and the Dodgers capitalized. Freeland led off with a walk. After Robinson bunted into a lineout to the pitcher, Ohtani walked to put runners at first and second. Pages was then hit by a pitch for the second time, loading the bases. Freeman walked to force in Freeland, giving the Dodgers a 2-1 lead. King’s outing ended there.

Reliever Yuki Matsui entered and faced Mookie Betts, who greeted him with a sharp two-run single to center, plating Ohtani and Pages. The hit extended the Dodgers’ lead to 4-1. Matsui settled down, striking out Max Muncy and getting Tommy Edman to ground out, but the damage was done. King was charged with four earned runs.

San Diego trimmed the deficit in the sixth. Jackson Merrill led off with a single, moved to second on a flyout, and scored on a two-out single by Xander Bogaerts, cutting the Dodgers’ lead to 4-2. Sheehan departed after allowing another hit and a hit-by-pitch, but reliever Will Klein induced a strikeout from Sung-Mun Song to end the inning.

From there, the Dodgers bullpen took over. Klein worked a clean seventh despite allowing a single to Fernando Tatis Jr., and the Padres threatened in the eighth. Machado led off with a double, his 15th of the season, and Ty France was hit by a pitch. But Klein struck out Bogaerts, and newly inserted reliever Jason Adam induced a double play from Miguel Andujar to end the inning.

Henriquez closed the door in the ninth. After retiring Sung-Mun Song on a flyout, he walked Freddy Fermin, but Tatis grounded into a game-ending double play.

The attendance was 41,189, and the game lasted 2 hours 53 minutes.

Key contributors for the Dodgers included Betts, who went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, and Ohtani, who finished 1-for-4 with a walk and an RBI. Freeland reached base twice and scored two runs. The Dodgers managed only five hits but drew six walks and benefited from three hit-by-pitches.

For the Padres, Machado went 2-for-4 with a home run and a double. Bogaerts had two hits and an RBI. Merrill singled and scored. But the Padres left seven runners on base and went 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position. Samad Taylor struck out three times in four at-bats. Miguel Andujar went 0-for-3.

The Dodgers’ victory avenged a 7-1 loss Friday and came a day after they routed the Padres 15-3. The two teams are scheduled to meet again Thursday in Los Angeles to begin a four-game series.

Interstat’s game simulator projected a final score of Los Angeles Dodgers 7, San Diego Padres 5. Interstat’s ELO system gave the Dodgers a 57.70 percent probability to win. Los Angeles was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The total score of 6 went over the over/under line of 8.