Dodgers show they have staying power

The Dodgers pulled an old battery out of their drawer, hoping there was just enough juice left to make it through Tuesday night before flickering out.

It turned out that the combination of starter Brett Tomko and catcher Russell Martin possessed more than enough staying power during the Dodgers’ 2-1 win over the Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium.

Tomko pitched six shutout innings in his first start since June 20 and Martin found himself in the middle of seemingly every key sequence. He scored the Dodgers’ first run, drove in their second run and played a large part in squelching a pair of Rockies rallies.

“This guy, he’s amazing how much energy and life he brings to every single game,” Manager Grady Little said about Martin, who drove in the winning run with an eighth-inning sacrifice fly off Rockies reliever Byung-Hyun Kim.

Little was hoping for only four or five innings from Tomko, who had not pitched since the Freeway Series on March 31. Tomko easily exceeded those expectations, striking out nine and giving up only one hit.

“I’m happy with it because when you have a couple of weeks when you don’t throw that much, you never know what can happen,” Tomko said. “I felt strong.”

Tomko was the fifth starter who wasn’t needed until Tuesday because of an off day during the Dodgers’ first turn through their rotation. But the rest only seemed to rejuvenate Tomko, who retired the first 11 batters he faced -- five by strikeout -- before hitting Garrett Atkins with an 89-mph fastball with two out in the fourth inning.

Tomko surrendered his only hit when center fielder Juan Pierre couldn’t track down Matt Holiday’s drive to the warning track in right-center leading off the fifth, which fell for a double. But Tomko recovered by striking out the side.

“He was just pounding his fastball in and out and really making hitters uncomfortable,” Martin said.

Little said Tomko “hit his spots as well as he ever has.... I don’t think I’ve ever seen him any better.”

Tomko finally wavered a bit in the sixth, walking a pair of Rockies. He escaped in part because Martin threw out Willy Taveras attempting to steal second base after a pitchout.

But Dodgers reliever Chad Billingsley squandered the one-run lead he inherited in the seventh, giving up a one-out double to Brad Hawpe and a two-out, run-scoring single up the middle to Yorvit Torrealba on a full count.

Billingsley appeared headed for more trouble in the eighth when Kazuo Matsui doubled with one out and Atkins walked, prompting Little to replace Billingsley with Joe Beimel. Todd Helton then walked to load the bases before Beimel fielded a weak grounder off the bat of Holliday and threw to Martin to start an inning-ending 1-2-3 double play.

Martin also figured prominently in the Dodgers’ first run, when he singled up the middle with one out in the first inning and stole second base. Nomar Garciaparra drove in Martin with a single just out of the reach of second baseman Matsui.

Little said Tomko would next pitch Tuesday against Arizona. The Dodgers will make one change to their rotation before then, inserting Randy Wolf between Jason Schmidt and Brad Penny.

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ben.bolch@latimes.com