Dodgers Bruise to Victory

This was retaliation of the finest order, accomplished with civility and an absence of broken bones, though maybe a minor bruise.

Instead of responding to Nomar Garciaparra getting hit by pitches three times and Russell Martin once by sticking it in somebody’s ribs, the Dodgers touched home plate.

Over and over and over.

The result was a 10-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday night at Dodger Stadium that prevented the Dodgers from slipping to .500 for the first time in seven weeks and lifted them within one game of the first-place San Diego Padres in the increasingly forgiving National League West.

Garciaparra was plunked in the back in the first inning by Juan Cruz and the next three Dodgers got hits, producing three runs. Garciaparra, the league’s leading hitter, was hit on the bill of his helmet by reliever Edgar Gonzalez in the fourth and calmly trotted to first.

Dodgers pitcher Derek Lowe (7-4) went about his business in the fifth, working out of a jam without indulging in so much as a note of chin music.

But in the bottom of the inning, Martin was hit on the left arm. He shook it once, went to first and was one of four Dodgers to score in the inning, the last run coming on a single by Garciaparra that extended the lead to 8-2.

The only Diamondbacks batter to get hit was Conor Jackson, whose right leg was grazed by Jonathan Broxton with two out in the seventh, prompting a visit to the mound by Manager Grady Little.

“I wanted him to think about getting an out,” Little said.

Plate umpire Ted Barrett spoke to Broxton after Little left, and second baseman Jeff Kent walked to the mound to defend the rookie pitcher and perhaps remind Barrett that far more Dodgers flesh had been exacted than Diamondbacks skin.

“If one guy gets hit, maybe,” Kent said. “If it happens three, four times, well, we’re professionals here.”

Broxton, incidentally, induced Luis Gonzalez to ground out, ending the inning.

The game might have been out of reach, but Garciaparra was still in range.

He was drilled in the left leg by Randy Choate with the bases loaded in the seventh, forcing home a run and tying a major league record by becoming the 24th player to be hit by three pitches in a game.

“I wouldn’t call it target practice,” Diamondbacks Manager Bob Melvin said. “Obviously it looked ugly. You try to crowd him. We weren’t trying to hit him.”

Mercifully, Garciaparra was left on deck in the eighth when Cesar Izturis grounded to shortstop for the third out. By then, the Dodgers had plenty of runs.

“The good thing is we won,” Garciaparra said. “You’ve just got to take it and respect the game of baseball.”

With those pesky interleague opponents behind them and sporting a new-look lineup, the Dodgers (42-40) pounded out 15 hits, including two doubles and two singles by rookie outfielder Andre Ethier.

Rafael Furcal was demoted from the leadoff position and batted seventh. Kenny Lofton moved up from second to leadoff and Cesar Izturis slid into the No. 2 hole.

All three contributed. Izturis doubled to start the first-inning rally and hit a sacrifice fly in the fifth. Lofton doubled and scored in the fifth and Furcal drove in a run with a single in the third.

But production came up and down the lineup. Every starting position player had at least one hit, and pinch-hitter Jose Cruz Jr. delivered a run-scoring single in the fifth, stayed in the game and singled in the seventh.

At least for a day, the offense eased the angst felt from the front office to the clubhouse. Despite the feel-good stories of veteran leadership and rookie achievement, the Dodgers reached the halfway point only one game over .500, having lost 16 of their last 25.

“I don’t think we can sit here and say we are satisfied with the first half,” Little said. “It’s not one particular area that’s been deficient. It’s been every area at one particular time or another.”

For one night, though, the Dodgers lacked only revenge.

Payback, they got.