No Giant Stakes in Dodger Win

If not for the season-long barrage of injuries, it could have been something to behold.

If not for the succession of questionable roster moves, it might have been savored.

The Dodgers’ decisive 7-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Thursday night at SBC Park was bittersweet because it might have tipped the scales in an actual pennant race. It might have spurred momentum and caused the first-place San Diego Padres to quake in their cleats.

But, alas, another mound gem by Derek Lowe, a slew of two-out runs batted in and multihit efforts by rookies Mike Edwards, Willy Aybar and Dioner Navarro came on the heels of two dispiriting losses.

Who is to think another disappointment isn’t a day or two away? Manager Jim Tracy is paid to keep hope alive, so there is that.

“Have we seen stranger things than a [5 1/2 -game] lead evaporate in 10 days? Yes, we have,” Tracy said.

Actually, not often. The stat gurus at Baseball Prospectus calculated Thursday that the Padres have a 96.6% chance of winning the West. Dodger chances are all of 1.35%. A Dodger victory on a day the Padres were idle didn’t change the numbers much.

The last time a team blew the pennant when it had a 96% chance of winning this late in the season was the 1964 Philadelphia Phillies, who lost 10 in a row beginning Sept. 21.

Not that anyone would put a similar collapse past the Padres (72-73). But it would also take a surge by the Dodgers (67-79).

“We’ll try to continue what we did today,” Navarro said.

And that would be putting together nine strong innings in every phase of the game. The Dodgers scored two runs in the second inning, three in the third and two in the fourth, giving Lowe plenty of support.

The only bit of bad news for the Dodgers came in the fifth inning when Olmedo Saenz left because of a pulled muscle in his rib cage. He will not play today. Also, Ricky Ledee was scratched from the lineup because his chronically sore left hamstring tightened.

Lowe (11-13) didn’t miss them. In five starts since moving from the third-base to the first-base side of the pitching rubber, he has allowed 23 hits and four earned runs in 40 2/3 innings.

“Sports comes down to confidence, so by now it’s more than moving on the rubber,” he said. “I’m throwing each pitch with 100% conviction.”

He struck out four and walked one in eight innings, and got lucky when Barry Bonds’ drive into McCovey Cove in the fourth was foul by inches. Bonds was 0 for 3 while leading off the second and seventh innings and batting with one out and none on in the fourth.

“Those were ideal times to face Barry,” Lowe said. “We had a lead and nobody was on base. I still marvel at how he can hit an inside pitch that far without hooking it. Anybody else would have hit that pitch 30 feet foul.”

The Dodgers exploited Bonds’ questionable arm in the second inning to take a 2-0 lead. With two out, Edwards stretched a hit to left field into a double, beating Bonds’ soft throw. After two walks, Aybar poked a single to left and Werth scored from second on another weak throw.

Giant starter Brad Hennessey (4-8) was chased in the third when the Dodgers extended the lead to 5-0. Jose Cruz Jr. drove in a run with a triple and Navarro followed with a double. With the bases loaded and two out, Aybar knocked in his third run with an infield single against reliever Jeff Fassero.

Another two-out rally began in the fourth when Cruz walked, Navarro singled and Edwards and Werth each drove in runs with singles.

“Aybar, Edwards and Navarro, those three young guys stepped up with key at-bats,” Tracy said. “We got Derek more than enough runs to work with.”