Cubs Don’t Get a Nibble Off Penny

Reeling in the National League West title sometimes seems as infuriatingly elusive to the Dodgers as catching an enormous bass is to a freshwater fisherman.

Pitcher and avid outdoorsman Brad Penny knows this intimately, because to pass time between starts he has been reading “Sowbelly,” a book chronicling the obsessive quest for the world record largemouth bass.

And Penny also knows the best way to respond to periods of futility is to keep tossing a line in the water or pitches to the plate.

So it shouldn’t have been a total surprise that a day after the Dodgers blew a seven-run lead and lost in extra innings, Penny held an opponent scoreless for the first time in three months and the Dodgers defeated the Chicago Cubs, 6-0, Wednesday night.

Penny went seven innings, walked none and looked far more like the pitcher who went 10-2 before the All-Star than the one who was 5-6 afterward. His 16 victories lead the National League.

“He’s one of the best pitchers in the majors and I had no worries that he’d bounce back,” said shortstop Rafael Furcal, who gave the 35,868 at Wrigley Field a sample of what they missed out on when he snubbed the Cubs to sign with the Dodgers.

Furcal led off the game with a single and scored, hit his 12th home run in the third and doubled to trigger a four-run fifth. His three runs pushed his total to 102 and he raised his batting average to .298.

He has become the catalyst General Manager Ned Colletti envisioned when he snatched Furcal from under the Cubs’ noses and signed the free agent to a three-year, $39-million contract. Bringing Furcal aboard triggered a torrent of acquisitions that remade the Dodgers into a team that has occupied first place the last 35 days.

Furcal is batting .354 since July 4 and is beginning to justify his contract. He is the team’s most productive player, with 142 more at-bats, 48 more hits, 26 more runs and nine more stolen bases than any other Dodger.

“I was very close to coming to Chicago, but the Dodgers put me in a good situation,” he said. “Now I’m in a situation like I was back in the day with the Braves, where we are trying to win every game.”

The Dodgers improved to 4-5 on the trip and will head home after today’s game to begin a pivotal series against the San Diego Padres, who remain 1 1/2 games behind them in the West after beating the Cincinnati Reds, 10-0.

The four games against the Padres are already creeping into the minds of the Dodgers.

“Every game from here on out is important,” Penny said. “When you see Cincinnati losing by six when our game started, it makes an impression.”

Earlier in the season, a debilitating loss like the one suffered Tuesday would have caused the Dodgers to spiral downward. When they blew a 5-0 lead at San Diego on April 30, they lost the next four games. When they lost a 17-inning game at Oakland in June, they lost the next three.

Now they are rebounding quickly. A 9-7 loss in 15 innings at Arizona on Aug. 25 was followed by seven consecutive victories and a 7-0 loss in New York last weekend was followed by a 5-0 victory.

“We have veteran guys who put losses behind them,” Furcal said. “[Tuesday] was a tough night for everyone. But you come to the park and it’s a new day. We like our chances.”

Penny learned from “Sowbelly” the odds of catching a 20-pound bass are estimated at one in 55 million. The Dodgers have a considerably better chance of winning the West.

They will throw their line in the water again today, then come home to face the Padres, who are 11-3 against them, including six victories in a row.

“I’m sure they will go in figuring they’ll do it some more,” Manager Grady Little said. “We are at the point where we can’t hide from the fact that the series will be a big part of our season.

“We’re glad to be involved in it and the strong will survive.”

steve.henson@latimes.com