Penny Shifts to High Gear

Winning has become as routine as the drive to the ballpark for the Dodgers, who have floored the accelerator over a three-week stretch to practically pull even with the frontrunners in the National League West.

Manager Grady Little attributed much of his team’s success to the attitude it brings into the clubhouse every day, though it’s easy to exude confidence when things are going the way they have recently.

The Dodgers’ recent joyride revved into overdrive Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium when Brad Penny pitched five scoreless innings and seven players drove in at least one run during an 8-1 victory over the Colorado Rockies.

Even the spotty bullpen was nearly spotless during a season-high sixth consecutive victory for the Dodgers that kept them half a game behind division-leading Arizona. Tim Hamulack, Danys Baez and Takashi Saito gave up only one run in four innings for the Dodgers, who have won 14 of 17 games and are 4-1 against the Rockies this season.

Penny departed, oddly enough, after completing his first 1-2-3 inning, the fifth. He gave up four hits, one walk and struck out five while throwing 104 pitches. The early exit could be pinned on the pitch count.

“Stuff like that is out of my control,” Penny (5-1) said of not being able to pitch deeper into a game he dominated. “I just have to keep throwing strikes.”

Although he said he was not bothered by the lower-back soreness that had plagued him recently, Penny will keep his appointment today with a back specialist.

Kenny Lofton, back in the lineup a day after being benched because a sore left hamstring had prevented him from exhibiting what he called “Kenny speed,” showed plenty of velocity on the basepaths, scoring twice and driving in two runs.

Lofton singled and scored on J.D. Drew’s triple in the first inning, and tripled to drive in two runs in the second, giving the Dodgers a 4-0 lead.

“He’s real close to Kenny speed,” Little said. “We like what we see.”

Penny entrusted the four-run lead to the bullpen, which refused to give in.

After Garrett Atkins hammered Hamulack’s third pitch into the left-field pavilion to cut Colorado’s deficit to 4-1, Dodgers relievers went into lockdown mode. Baez pitched two scoreless innings before Saito added a scoreless ninth.

“There were good performances all over the field out there,” Little said. “Outside of the one ball that left the ballpark, we are as pleased as we could be.”

With the Dodgers leading by three runs in the seventh inning, Nomar Garciaparra hit a run-scoring double to right-center field and scored on Jeff Kent’s sacrifice fly.

Russell Martin had a run-scoring double in the eighth and scored on Rafael Furcal’s sacrifice fly to complete the onslaught.

Furcal also made a dazzling stop in the sixth when he ranged up the middle to field Matt Holliday’s grounder before whirling to make a strong throw to first for the out.

“It’s not easy,” Furcal said of the Dodgers’ success. “Everybody is hungry to win. The teammates are together, and that’s what you’re looking for.”

The Rockies had at least one baserunner in each of the first four innings but couldn’t capitalize. Atkins and Todd Helton hit consecutive singles in the first with one out but were stranded when Penny struck out Holliday and retired Brad Hawpe on a ground ball.

Luis Gonzalez led off the second inning with a double to right-center field and reached third on a groundout. He was still standing there after Miguel Ojeda struck out and Jason Jennings grounded out to second base.

Another promising start fizzled in the fourth for the Rockies when Hawpe hit a bad-hop single off Furcal only to be erased when Gonzalez hit into a double play.