• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Penny, Kent lead Dodgers over Giants

Apr 1, 2008 - 3:07 AM LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- At the beginning of the Joe Torre era in Los Angeles, the Dodgers made it look easy.

Brad Penny tossed 6 2/3 scoreless innings and Jeff Kent homered to lead Los Angeles to a 5-0 win over the rival San Francisco Giants on Monday.

Rafael Furcal had three hits and drove in a run for the Dodgers, who pounded out 11 hits in the opening game of the club's 50th season in Los Angeles.

It was the managerial debut in Dodger blue for Torre, who spent the past 12 seasons on the East Coast, guiding the New York Yankees to four World Series titles and 12 straight postseason appearances.

"Opening days are special and have so much significance, but the victory is the most important thing to come out of this," Torre said. "I know my 12 years in New York have been productive but trust me, you can never take (an Opening Day win) for granted.

"Our plan is to put together a very proud ballclub for our fans, they get to see good effort every night."

Penny (1-0) set the tone early Monday against a patchwork Giants lineup that is missing the intimidating presence of Barry Bonds to begin the season for the first time since 1992.

"Its an honor to pitch Opening Day, a lot of other guys are just as deserving," Penny said. "...I took it like another start, I wasn't too nervous. It was nice to finally pitch in front of all those people."

The burly Penny surrendered just four hits while striking out three and walking two. Three relievers finished up the five-hit shutout.

"Pitching is what its all about, to be consistent," Torre said. "It's about the guys on the mound, and I think we did a great job of that tonight."

"Penny pitched a great game," Kent said. "We did a great job on the mound. The guys that came in shut it down."

With Bonds and his 762 career homers out of the lineup, San Francisco failed to muster an extra-base hit in the contest.

"We had spring training to adjust without Barry (Bonds). It's more of an adjustment for the fans," Giants outfielder Dave Roberts said.

The Dodgers jumped on Giants starter Barry Zito (0-1) early. Furcal led off the game with a double before Kemp plated the first run with a one-out single.

"This year, unlike last year, I feel good and able to stay back on pitches because I'm healthy," Furcal said. "We got a bunch of good young kids that mix with the veterans, we have a good bench, great defense and deep pitching. ... We have very good chemistry. When young kids see the veterans drive to win every day, it rubs off on them."

Kent followed Kemp with a two-run blast to deep left-center field, giving Penny and the Los Angeles pitching staff all the breathing room it would need.

"I've hit home runs and they're all special, but that one was great to do it on Opening Day," Kent said. "You want to do it for the fans."

Juan Pierre, who had appeared in 434 consecutive games, did not see any action on Monday, ending the major league's current mark for longevity. The veteran slap hitter was pushed out of the starting lineup in the spring by youngster Andre Ethier, who went 0-for-4 on Monday.

Aaron Rowand had a pair of hits in his San Francisco debut.