Tripling Their Pleasure

Derek Lowe seems to have a knack for setting down the San Diego Padres, no matter where he’s pitching or what jersey he’s wearing, since moving over to the National League.

Five days after delivering a three-hit shutout against San Diego at Dodger Stadium, Lowe held the Padres to one unearned run over eight innings Wednesday night before the Dodgers rallied for a 3-1 victory in 10 innings at Petco Park.

J.D. Drew tied the score at 1-1 with an eighth-inning solo homer off Padre reliever Akinori Otsuka and Jose Valentin provided the winning margin off reliever Scott Linebrink with his two-run triple in the 10th off the right-field scoreboard.

The late heroics propelled the Dodgers (12-2) to an eight-game winning streak that gave them the best start since the franchise moved to Los Angeles. The 1940 and 1955 Brooklyn teams also started 12-2.

“You never feel like you’re going to lose a game,” Valentin said of the Dodgers’ mind-set after they completed their second consecutive comeback victory. “Our confidence is so big, you feel like sooner or later our time is going to come.”

Linebrink doubled the Dodgers’ pleasure in the 10th when he committed an error on Drew’s infield single, bobbling the ball and then throwing wildly past first baseman Phil Nevin, allowing Drew to take second. Jeff Kent drew a full-count walk and, after Milton Bradley popped out, Valentin delivered his big blow.

Duaner Sanchez (1-1) pitched a scoreless ninth for the victory and Yhency Brazoban stranded a runner at third in the 10th to record his fourth save, registering consecutive strikeouts of Nevin and pinch-hitter Miguel Ojeda to end the game.

Lowe gave up five hits and thrived under late-inning pressure, escaping two-on, two-out jams in the seventh and eighth. In the seventh, Lowe retired Geoff Blum on an inning-ending fly ball to deep center field, shortly after Blum had ripped a shot just a few feet foul into the right-field seats. Lowe finished off the eighth by inducing a comebacker off the bat of Ramon Hernandez.

Pretty impressive for a guy who had been shelled for six earned runs in one-third of an inning in his only appearance against the Padres during his eight seasons in the American League. His earned-run average against San Diego after that stint? An unsightly 162.00. Now it’s 3.12.

Lowe also singled for the second hit of his Dodger career and made two nice defensive plays, one when he stuck his glove out to snare a line drive up the middle off the bat of Nevin and another when he fielded a Nevin grounder to start a 1-4-3 double play.

But Lowe, who last season allowed a major league-worst 34 stolen bases in 36 attempts, continued to have trouble holding on runners. San Diego was successful on all five stolen-base attempts, including one by pitcher Woody Williams and another by Mark Loretta that contributed to the Padres’ run.

Wearing a throwback Brooklyn jersey last Friday, Lowe had limited the Padres to three singles and one walk. San Diego moved one runner past first base.

The Padres had more success in the first inning alone Wednesday against Lowe, clad in regular Dodger blue, after third baseman Valentin’s fifth error in 14 games led to an unearned run.

“I think the hardest thing to do is pitch against the same team in back-to-back games,” said Lowe, who walked four and struck out three. “I had eight consecutive at-bats against guys ... You run out of tricks.”

Valentin fielded Loretta’s slow roller up the third-base line with one out in the inning, but his throw pulled first baseman Norihiro Nakamura off the bag. Loretta stole second one out later and scored on Nevin’s single.

The Dodgers countered with three consecutive two-out singles in the second but failed to score the tying run when San Diego right fielder Brian Giles threw Jason Phillips out at the plate to end the inning.