The Force Is Strong With These Dodgers

Pure unadulterated aggressiveness, a heretofore scarce commodity with the Dodgers, was evident in many forms Friday night during a 7-0 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

There was pitcher Brad Penny growling and holding his ground like an angry bear after Arizona baserunner Luis Gonzalez said something testy to him in the third inning.

There were J.D. Drew and Mike Edwards hitting home runs on the first pitches of the fourth and fifth innings against noted strike-thrower Javier Vazquez.

There was a squeeze bunt by Oscar Robles that scored Jason Phillips, perhaps the slowest Dodger, in the fifth.

And there was rookie Jason Repko making a leaping catch of Chad Tracy’s drive a split-second before crashing into the right-field fence in the sixth. He stayed in the game and doubled in an insurance run during a four-run seventh.

It added up to a victory before an announced 48,306 at Dodger Stadium that pulled the Dodgers even with the Diamondbacks in the National League West. Both teams trail the San Diego Padres by 4 1/2 games.

The aggressive stance began with Penny (4-5), who had lost his three starts since signing a three-year, $25-million contract extension despite pitching reasonably well. This time Penny was money, giving up three hits in eight innings.

“Momentum starts with pitching,” Manager Jim Tracy said. “That was a terrific performance.”

Penny’s curveball, erratic in recent starts, was devastating and the control of his fastball was pinpoint. His only anxious moment came with two out in the third when Gonzalez hit a dribbler up the first-base line.

Penny fielded the ball and tagged Gonzalez, who told Penny he didn’t appreciate it. Penny slammed the ball down and gestured as if to say, “Come and get me.”

The Diamondbacks (39-42) never did. Instead, Drew jumped on the first pitch of the fourth for his 13th home run and Edwards hit the first pitch of the fifth into the Dodger bullpen for the first homer of his career.

Phillips followed with a ground-rule double, advanced on Penny’s sacrifice and scored on Robles’ squeeze when Vazquez threw wildly to the plate. The Dodgers (38-41) added four runs in the seventh on five hits, including doubles by Robles and Repko.

“Robles made a strong contribution, and that catch by Repko made a loud statement to anyone wearing a Dodger uniform,” Tracy said.

Robles played shortstop because Cesar Izturis complained of tightness in his right hamstring, a recurrence of an injury that caused him to sit out five games in mid-June. Edwards played third base because Antonio Perez moved to second. Jeff Kent played first instead of Hee-Seop Choi, who is 0 for 12 against Vazquez.

Some close to the Dodgers believe the team would be well-served by moving Kent from second to first permanently.

Tracy, however, said the decision to start Kent at first for only the third time this season was “a one-day thing.”

The unfamiliarity caused Penny to throw more pitches than he should have in the first and third innings. Robles did not field an easy double-play ground ball cleanly with one out, settling for the out at first. Penny walked Troy Glaus before getting Shawn Green to ground out.

In the third Kent opted to step on first rather than throw to second with one out and one on because the runner was blocking his view of Robles.

As it turned out, Penny sailed along, making 107 pitches in his best outing since his first start as a Dodger last August when he threw eight scoreless innings against Pittsburgh.

It was the first Dodger shutout since April 17 and fourth of the season.