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Lowe pitches Dodgers past Giants

Apr 8, 2007 - 5:55 AM SAN FRANCISCO (Ticker) -- Derek Lowe bounced back from a dismal season debut to look like ace material.

Lowe pitched seven strong innings to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 4-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants.

Rebounding from an Opening Day start at Milwaukee in which he lasted just four innings and yielded six runs and five walks, Lowe (1-1) was much more economical against the struggling San Francisco lineup, which was without superstar Barry Bonds.

"This game really isn't rocket science," Lowe said. "Hitters will tell you how good your stuff is when you've got a lot of fly balls. I pitched behind in the count the whole time and today was different.

"We did a really good job of not getting predictable. We threw a lot of offspeed pitches, especially in the middle of the game to kind of offset their aggressiveness and it worked."

The 6-6 Lowe permitted just one run and four hits while striking out one and walking two in his 95-pitch effort.

"He was outstanding out there today, he was mixing pitches," Dodgers manager Grady Little said. "He had a good plan and he enforced it out there during the game. He stuck with it the entire way, you can't ask for anything more."

The Giants scored just a single run for the second straight day against the Dodgers and have managed a paltry total of 10 in five games as they dropped to 1-4 on the season.

Los Angeles went ahead to stay in the fifth when Jeff Kent delivered a two-run double to left off Giants starter Russ Ortiz, who pitched well except for that one frame, when he allowed consecutive hits to Wilson Valdez, Nomar Garciaparra and Kent.

"As a baseball player, you get ready to play everybody, you don't care really what color they're wearing," Kent said of playing against his former team. "We were ready to play against Milwaukee, lost two, ready to play against the Giants, won two so far. It really doesn't matter. Just beating the Giants isn't going to get us in the playoffs, we've got to beat everybody."

Valdez, making his first start of the season, went 3-for-4. Garciaparra had an RBI sacrifice fly in the seventh to make it 4-1.

"This is why I'm there, to help my team win, and I asked Derek Lowe to give me a couple of ground balls and I had a lot today," said Valdez, who is playing because Rafael Furcal is on the disabled list. "I feel comfortable at the plate. I saw a couple of pitches I jumped at and got hits."

"Valdez had a great game out there," Little said. "I guess he's the MVP of the game, to tell you the truth. He made some great plays and this kid during spring training for us this year he earned his way onto the ballclub and he certainly showed out there today that he's earning a little bit more playing time."

Ortiz (0-1) allowed three earned runs and seven hits in five innings. He struck out four and walked three.

"I wanted to win and I wanted us to win so anytime we lose when I pitch I'm never happy," Ortiz said. "But I thought it went OK. Those two guys I walked in the fourth inning were pretty much the ones that came up to bite me because that changes the lineup and it makes the situations different."

The Giants opened the scoring in the second when Ray Durham singled and was doubled home by Rich Aurilia.

"This is a start, it's what it is," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said of his team's poor start. "It's not the start we wanted but there's so much baseball left and we'll get going here offensively. I think the encouraging thing is I believe the pitchers are throwing well. We've got to get some runs on the board."