Posted at 12:38 p.m., Saturday, September 15, 2007
Baseball: Gonzalez, Lowe lead Dodgers past D'Backs
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES - A bruised pitching hand only served to bring out the best in Derek Lowe.
Lowe, who missed a start after being injured while playing catch, allowed one run in seven innings, Luis Gonzalez hit a three-run homer to cap a four-run first, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-2 today.
By winning their second straight over Arizona, the Dodgers moved within 3½ games of the NL West-leading Diamondbacks, and trailed San Diego by one game in the wild-card race pending the Padres' game against the San Francisco Giants later Saturday.
The Philadelphia Phillies beat the New York Mets 5-3, leaving them one game behind the Padres as well.
Lowe (12-12) gave up four hits while walking one and striking out five before being relieved by Joe Beimel to start the eighth with the game well in hand. It was the Dodgers' fourth straight win.
Lowe was scheduled to start Wednesday night against the Padres, but was bypassed because of the injury to the meaty part of his hand between his thumb and forefinger. He was hurt Tuesday night while playing catch with fellow pitcher Jonathan Broxton in pregame warmups.
The Dodgers took a quick 4-0 lead against Livan Hernandez (10-10). Rafael Furcal opened the first with a single and Juan Pierre walked. Hot-hitting rookie James Loney followed with an RBI single before Gonzalez hit Hernandez's 11th pitch of the game into the lower seats in right for his 14th homer.
Andre Ethier hit a full-count pitch from Hernandez over the center field fence with one out in the sixth for his 12th homer to make it 5-0.
Furcal stole a career-high four bases to give him seven in the last three games and 25 this season. The only other major leaguer to steal four bases this season was Kenny Lofton, who did so June 29 against Boston while playing for Texas.
Lowe blanked the Diamondbacks on three hits and a walk until Tony Clark opened the seventh with his 14th homer. Lowe bounced back to retire the next three batters.
Miguel Montero, who hit a two-out double in the fifth, was the only Arizona player to reach second base until Clark's homer.
The Dodgers got that run back in the bottom of the inning on reliever Bob Wickman's throwing error. The unearned run was charged to Doug Slaten, who walked two of the four batters he faced.
The Diamondbacks got a run off Beimel in the eighth on doubles by pinch hitters Robby Hammock and Alberto Callaspo. Broxton relieved with runners at second and third and one out and retired the next two batters.
After allowing the first five Dodgers to reach base safely on four hits and a walk, Hernandez settled down, giving up only two hits and one run after that. He came out after giving up six hits and five runs in six innings with three walks and three strikeouts.
