"Against the backdrop of Major League Baseball's latest move to force a change in the Dodgers' ownership, Matt Kemp quietly took the field in a half-empty ballpark on his 27th birthday with a chance to do something no National League player has done in 74 years.

Win the triple crown.

Kemp launched his 37th home run in the seventh inning of the Dodgers' 2-0 victory over the San Diego Padres at cavernous Petco Park on Friday, moving into a tie for the league lead with Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Kemp's 119 runs batted in top the league. His average has climbed from .317 to .326 over the last 11 games, moving him to within three points of the league lead.

"I think about it," Kemp said. "It's hard not to think about."

But Kemp said he would not try to force anything.

"I haven't done it the whole season," he said. "I'm not going to do it these last five games. I'm not going to change it up."

The last NL player to win a triple crown was Joe Medwick of the St. Louis Cardinals, who did it when Tom Lasorda was 10 years old. Lasorda turned 84 this week.

Carl Yastrzesmki of the Boston Red Sox was the last American League player to do it, in 1967.

With Clayton Kershaw a victory away from possibly securing the NL's triple crown of pitching (wins, ERA, strikeouts), the Dodgers could become the second team in baseball history to have two triple-crown winners. The only team to have that distinction were the 1934 New York Yankees, who had Lou Gehrig and Lefty Gomez."