Weaver Has Dodgers Moving Up Standings

With Brad Penny cashing in, Jeff Weaver might be checking out.

The Dodgers could finalize Penny’s contract extension as soon as Friday, which could commit them to $26 million next season for Penny and fellow starters Derek Lowe and Odalis Perez. The Dodgers could fill the other two spots in their rotation more cheaply, but Weaver made a case to stay Wednesday.

In one of the finest performances by a Dodger starter this season, Weaver gave up two hits over seven innings in a 3-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers. Yhency Brazoban and Eric Gagne each worked a hitless inning to finish off the Tigers to the delight of an announced 34,690 at Dodger Stadium.

Jason Grabowski hit a two-run home run for the Dodgers, on a night they passed the Arizona Diamondbacks and moved into second place in the National League West. Detroit starter Jason Johnson hit a home run for the Tigers, the first by a Detroit pitcher since Les Cain in 1971, in the era that predated the designated hitter.

“I can hit a fastball,” Johnson said. “I just can’t hit anything else.”

Weaver faced 24 batters and retired 21, including 13 in a row at one point. He walked none, struck out seven and threw 71 of 97 pitches for strikes.

Weaver joined the Detroit rotation in 1999, after six minor league starts, and was traded to the New York Yankees in 2002 and to his hometown Dodgers before last season.

“This is the organization I grew up watching and cheering for,” he said. “It’s been a dream come true.”

Dreams are not free. He is making $9.25 million this season, and he is eligible for free agency this fall.

So was Penny.

The Dodgers kept Penny off the market, but Weaver said they have not initiated talks on a contract extension with him.

“We tried to talk to them in spring training,” he said. “Nothing really came of it.”

Weaver is 6-5 with a 5.27 earned-run average. He went 13-13 with a 4.01 ERA in 220 innings last season, with 24 quality starts -- tied with American League Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana.

Weaver said he wants to stay with the Dodgers but realizes the choice might not be his.

“If that’s what happens, that’s what happens,” he said. “I pitched 34 starts for them last year, and a couple guys didn’t quite have that workload. I hope they understand what I bring to this club.”

Mike Edwards, showing flashes of Manny Mota as a pinch-hitter, helped the Dodgers score an insurance run in the seventh inning.

With one out, Jason Phillips singled. Edwards, batting for Weaver, singled Phillips to second base. Edwards, a 28-year-old rookie, is five for six as a pinch-hitter.

Cesar Izturis, who is hitless in his last 25 at-bats, followed with a ground ball to second baseman Omar Infante, an apparent inning-ending double play.

But Edwards froze as Infante charged, forcing the second baseman to run him down and tag him out.

By that time, Infante could not complete the double play. Hee-Seop Choi singled home Phillips.

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June bloom

After a poor first two months, Dodger pitcher Jeff Weaver is having a better June. A look:

*--* April May June Total IP 30.1 36 14 80.1 H 39 43 5 87 ER 21 21 5 47 HR 2 9 2 13 BB 6 10 3 19 SO 14 27 14 55 W-L 2-2 3-2 1-1 6-5 ERA 6.23 5.25 3.21 5.27

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