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Lowe excellent as Dodgers pound Padres

Apr 14, 2007 - 7:52 AM LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- Derek Lowe helped turn around the Los Angeles Dodgers' fortunes at Dodger Stadium against the San Diego Padres.

Lowe pitched eight solid innings and Luis Gonzalez led a 13-hit attack with a homer and two RBI as the Dodgers posted an easy 9-1 victory over the Padres.

Rafael Furcal and Nomar Garciaparra had two hits and two RBI apiece for Los Angeles, which lost seven of nine here last season against San Diego.

Lowe (2-1) was superb last season against the Padres, posting a 1.83 ERA and was better in this one. The righthanded sinkerballer yielded a run and seven hits in eight innings. He walked two and struck out six to improve to 3-2 with a 2.33 ERA in 10 lifetime starts against San Diego.

"I just went out there and pitched my game," Lowe said. "I had all my pitches working for me from the first pitch."

Gonzalez got the Dodgers off to a good start when he homered in the second inning off San Diego starter David Wells to open the scoring, and his run-scoring single in the third forged a 3-0 lead.

"He (Gonzalez) has helped our team win games this season with his bat," Dodgers manager Grady Little said. "We wanted him in a Dodger uniform because we knew he could help contribute."

The portly 43-year-old Wells did not survive the third frame, departing after Russell Martin's RBI single. Wells (0-1) was tagged for five runs and eight hits in 2 1/3 innings.

"I thought he was throwing good," Padres manager Bud Black said. "He just ran into some trouble against a good offensive team and had some bad luck."

Los Angeles then jumped on San Diego's bullpen, which entered having posted 28 1/3 scoreless innings to start the season. The Dodgers scored four runs and knocked four hits off Mike Thompson, who pitched 3 2/3 frames.

"Our pen has been perfect coming into tonight's game," Black said. "We all know that a team will put runs on the board against them sometime this season, but so far they have done a great job for us."

Furcal, who was activated from the 15-day disabled list just prior to the game, drilled a two-run double off Thompson.

"It felt good to come back and contribute and help the team get a win tonight," Furcal said.

"It's good to have him (Furcal) back in the lineup again," Lowe said. "He makes things happen."