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Lowe and bullpen throw a four-hitter, Dodgers defeat Nationals

May 31, 2007 - 4:09 AM WASHINGTON (Ticker) -- All Derek Lowe asked for was some run support by his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates. He would take it from there.

Lowe and two relievers combined on a four-hitter and Russell Martin hit a two-run homer as the Dodgers posted a 5-0 victory over the Washington Nationals on Wednesday.

Rafael Furcal had two hits and an RBI and Andre Ethier also added a run-scoring double for Los Angeles, which has won three straight and six of seven to maintain its lead in the National League West.

"All in all a good way to start the road trip so far," said Lowe of the Dodgers 2-0 start on their current 10-game road trek.

The Dodgers entered the contest a one-half game ahead of the Arizona Diamondbacks for the division lead.

Lowe (5-5) yielded a one-out single to Ryan Church in the second inning and two-out base hits to Felipe Lopez and Cristian Guzman in the fourth and sixth, respectively. The 33-year old righthander walked two and struck out five to remain perfect (3-0) against Washington.

The win was just his third in six May starts despite a 2.16 ERA this month.

"I think you just take every start as is," Lowe said. "I've pitched better in some games this year but have not gotten the same good results."

Five times in May the 11-year veteran allowed three runs or less in a start.

A day after Dodgers starter Brad Penny blanked the Nationals with fastballs touching 95 mph, Lowe befuddled Washington with a biting sinker, inducing 11 groundball outs.

"He used a lot of pitches in the first two innings, but he was able to get the ball down and have the Nationals beat it into the ground when he needed to," Dodgers manager Grady Little said.

It was the fourth shutout in 2007 for Los Angeles and the sixth time Washington has been blanked, including two straight in this series. The Nationals lost, 10-0, to the Dodgers on Tuesday.

Joe Beimel pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning and Rudy Seanez allowed a leadoff single to Guzman before retiring the side in the ninth.

Martin hit a two-run homer in the sixth over the center field wall to give the Dodgers a 4-0 lead.

The home run ended the night for Nationals starter Mike Bacsik (1-1), who allowed four runs, six hits and a walk in six innings.

Bacsik hadn't pitched in the major leagues since 2004 before he was called up May 19, and he's made an impression in three starts, going 1-1 with a 2.29 ERA.

"My stuff obviously isn't going to light up the radar gun or make GMs think, 'He's a can't-miss guy,' so I have to really locate the ball and for the most part I did tonight," Bacsik said.

Los Angeles took a 2-0 lead in the fifth on an RBI double by Ethier and a run-scoring single by Furcal. Nomar Garciaparra added an RBI single in the seventh inning to make it 5-0.

"It's all about executing," Little said. "We're going to have to execute fundamentally offensively if we want to be successful. We're not a team that can sit back and wait for a home run."