LOS ANGELES -- Derek Lowe's final bullpen outing a few days
before his start against the Houston Astros was, in a word, awful.
That didn't bode well for a starting pitcher who hadn't won in
almost two months.
But it was a different matter once he took the mound Thursday
night.
Lowe pitched seven shutout innings to earn his first victory
since June 22, and the Los Angeles Dodgers extended Wandy
Rodriguez's road miseries by beating the Houston Astros 6-2.
"That's a long time not to win," said the 34-year-old
right-hander, who went 0-5 with three no-decisions between
victories. "You've got to go out there and believe you can win.
The early runs were key for me."
Jeff Kent hit a two-run double in the first to give the Dodgers
an early lead, and added two more doubles later to raise his career
total to 530, putting him in 28th place on baseball's all-time
list.
Rafael Furcal had two singles and two RBIs for the Dodgers, who
won their second straight game after losing 18 of their previous 24
to fall a season-high 6½ games behind first-place Arizona in the NL
West.
"We all know the hole we've put ourselves in and know the kind
of baseball we have to play the rest of the way," Lowe said. "We
understand what we're up against. It's definitely going to be a
tough task. Everyone in here believes we have the team to do it."
Lowe (9-11) allowed five hits while walking none and striking
out two. He faced 22 batters -- one over the minimum -- despite
allowing two singles each by Mike Lamb and Craig Biggio and another
by Lance Berkman. The Dodgers backed him with a season-high four
double plays.
Rudy Seanez worked the eighth before Roberto Hernandez made his
1,000th career appearance, becoming the 12th big league pitcher to
reach the milestone.
Hernandez issued one-out walks to Mark Loretta and Berkman in
the ninth before Carlos Lee hit an RBIs double. Lamb then reached on
an error by second baseman Ramon Martinez, allowing Berkman to
score, before Takashi Saito got the final two outs for his 31st
save in 34 chances.
"It's not the way I wanted to do it, but it was a win," the
42-year-old Hernandez said. "Sometimes, I'm amazed I'm still
competing at this level. I appreciate all the opportunities I've
had. This game is about memories and going out and having fun. It's
been a heck of a ride."
Kent passed Hall of Famers Cap Anson and Frank Robinson, who
each hit 528 doubles, and Al Oliver, who hit 529.
"Those guys were great players," Kent said. "Derek pitched a
great game today and we were able to get to Wandy and set ourselves
up for an easy day."
Rodriguez (7-11) left after allowing five hits and four runs,
two earned, in five innings. The 28-year-old left-hander is 6-2
with a 1.65 ERA in 12 starts at home and 1-9 with a 7.80 ERA in 12
starts on the road.
Biggio, who joined the 3,000-hit club on June 28 and is retiring
at the end of the season, played his final game at Dodger Stadium
and was honored in a pre-game ceremony. Biggio, who sat out the
first three games of the four-game series, went 2-for-4 and
received a standing ovation after popping out to the catcher in the
ninth.
"It was nice. There's nothing staged here," Biggio said of the
impromptu salute. "When the game ended, I was just looking at the
field, looking at the scoreboard and knowing I'm never going to be
out there again on this particular field. I mean, I've never taken
it for granted. When you know it's your last, you plant it in your
memory bank somewhere."
The Dodgers took a 2-0 lead in the first when Juan Pierre and
Matt Kemp hit one-out singles and scored on Kent's first double.
Errors by first baseman Lamb led to unearned runs in the fourth
and fifth, giving the Dodgers a 4-0 lead. Kent hit a leadoff double
in the fourth, and scored when Lamb booted Andre Ethier's two-out
grounder, and Furcal hit a one-out single in the fifth, took third
when Lamb couldn't come up with Pierre's grounder, and scored on
Kemp's sacrifice fly.
Astros reliever Stephen Randolph sprained his right knee while
trying to field Lowe's sacrifice bunt in the sixth and was helped
off the field. Furcal greeted reliever Trever Miller with a
two-out, two-run single to make it 6-0.
Game notes
Randolph was placed on the 15-day disabled list after the
game. The Astros recalled RHP Juan Gutierrez from Triple-A Round
Rock. ... Dodgers manager Grady Little said LHP Eric Stults will be
recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas and pitch Friday night against
Colorado. ... The Astros are 3-14 in the 17 games that Lamb has
started at first base. ... Kemp, in and out of the lineup since
being recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas on June 12, batted third for
the third straight game and went 1-for-3 with a sacrifice fly,
making him 5-for-11 with three RBIs in the three games.