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Penny strikes out 14 as Dodgers trounce Marlins

May 8, 2007 - 3:43 AM MIAMI (Ticker) -- A day after Jake Peavy struck out 10Florida Marlins, Brad Penny came into town and did him four better.

Penny struck out a career-high 14 in seven scoreless innings to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 6-1 victory over the Marlins on Monday night.

Rookie Andy LaRoche drove in his first two major league runs and Jeff Kent and Russell Martin each had a pair of hits for the Dodgers, who have won six of their last seven against the Marlins.

Penny (4-0), who started his career with Florida in 2000 and was a member of the 2003 championship team, yielded five hits and did not issue a walk.

"I had command of my fastball and we got a couple of runs early," Penny said. "From there it makes it a lot easier on a pitcher."

The burly righthander is second in the National League in ERA (1.39) and has yet to allow a home run in 45 1/3 innings this season.

"He kept himself well under control tonight and he made a lot of good pitches," Dodgers manager Grady Little said. "He played hardball with them tonight. He stayed within himself and let his natural abilities take over. That was good enough tonight."

Los Angeles is now 6-1 in games started by Penny.

The 28-year-old righthander is the first Dodger starter since Chan Ho Park to strike out 14 batters. Park accomplished the feat against Milwaukee on August 29, 2000.

"When you are throwing that hard and keeping the ball up in the zone and you get ahead in the zone, it is tough to get a piece of that," Martin said. "He just had a really good fastball and they weren't hitting it so we just kept going to it."

Penny had struggled against his former club, coming into Monday's game 0-1 with an 8.18 ERA in two starts since the Marlins traded him to the Dodgers in July 2004.

"I love pitching here," Penny said of his return to Dolphin Stadium. "The mound is huge and is perfect for a guy like me that throws hard. It is definitely an advantage for a power pitcher in this park."

Florida first baseman Mike Jacobs had a particularly rough night, striking out in each of his three at-bats against Penny. Jacobs also struck out three times Sunday against Peavy.

"It is always frustrating when you got guys that come in and shove it up our butts," Jacobs said.

The Marlins, who came into the game leading the National League in runs scored, are on pace to strike out 1,452 times this year. Milwaukee set the all-time season record in 2000 with 1,399. However, Jacobs is not bothered by the strikeouts.

"If we are still putting up numbers, what is the difference if we are striking out a lot," Jacobs said. "We got seven guys in our lineup that can hit 20 home runs. You look at guys that hit home runs, usually they strike out a lot. If you have seven guys in your lineup that can hit 20 home runs, chances are they are going to strike out a 100 times."

Outfielder Joe Borchard, who struck out four times Sunday against Peavy, broke a personal string of seven straight strikeouts with a lineout in the fifth.

Kent opened the scoring with a solo homer leading off the second inning off Marlins starter Ricky Nolasco (1-1). After Martin and Andre Ethier singled, LaRoche plated Martin from third with a sacrifice fly for his first career RBI.

"I owe that to Martin for tagging up on a shallow fly ball," LaRoche said. "I have to thank him for that. I am just trying to get the ball in the outfield with less than two outs."

Los Angeles added four in the fourth frame off Nolasco. Kent led off with a double and came home on Martin's one-out triple to deep right field. After Ethier was intentionally walked, LaRoche plated the second run of his career with a single to right-center field.

"I am just trying to stay relaxed and play the game I have been and hopefully we keep rolling and getting some more wins," LaRoche said.

After LaRoche stole second base on a botched hit-and-run, Penny helped his own cause by driving an 0-2 offering from Nolasco into left field for a two-RBI single.

Nolasco, who was making his second start since being activated from the disabled list, surrendered all six runs and 10 hits in six innings. The 24-year-old righthander walked two and struck out four.

Florida's lone run came in the eighth on a solo homer by Dan Uggla off reliever Rudy Seanez.