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Lowe Boosts Dodgers To Win Against Rockies

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The Associated Press

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 22, 2008

LOS ANGELES - Derek Lowe knew he faced a difficult assignment against the Colorado Rockies. Not only were the defending NL champions on a roll, but they match up well against him.

So the 35-year-old right-hander did his best to keep the Rockies guessing. The strategy worked.

Lowe cooled off Colorado by allowing one run in 61/3 innings, James Loney homered and drove in two runs, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Rockies 3-1 Thursday to salvage the finale of a three-game series.

Manny Ramirez contributed with a stolen base, of all things, as the Dodgers completed their 10-game homestand with a 7-3 record and moved within 1 1/2 games of NL West-leading Arizona, which played visiting San Diego on Thursday night.

"I think they have one of the best offenses we face, especially against me. They're all low-ball hitters," Lowe said. "I threw a lot of breaking balls and tried not to be so predictable, throwing sinker away, sinker away. You have to command your off-speed pitches against this lineup. I was fortunate to keep it to one run.

"Manny got a stolen base to get us going. The bullpen did a great job."

The loss snapped a five-game winning streak for the Rockies, who scored 36 runs in three wins in Washington and two more at Dodger Stadium.

Lowe allowed four hits with two walks and seven strikeouts before being relieved by Hong-Chih Kuo after issuing a one-out walk to Jeff Baker in the seventh.

"When he's hitting his spots like that, he's tough," Colorado's Ian Stewart said of Lowe. "It seemed like Dodgers catcher Russell Martin never moved his glove from where he set up."

Kuo struck out pinch hitter Troy Tulowitzki before Clint Barmes blooped a double to right. With the tying and go-ahead runners in scoring position, pinch hitter Willy Tavares popped to first to end the inning.

Kuo then retired the Rockies in order in the eighth, and Jonathan Broxton worked the ninth for his 10th save in 11 chances since taking over the closer's role last month when Takashi Saito went on the disabled list. Stewart hit Broxton's first pitch for a double before Broxton fanned Chris Iannetta, Baker and Tulowitzki to end the game.

Matt Kemp hit a two-out double in the fifth and scored on Andre Ethier's single to put the Dodgers ahead for good, and Loney opened the seventh by hitting a 2-1 pitch from Luis Vizcaino over the right-field fence for his 10th homer to complete the scoring.

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