After a pitchers’ duel, Padres rule
On a night when Brad Penny and Jake Peavy could barely be touched, the game couldn’t be decided until the two were long gone.
After the Dodgers were a hit away from the go-ahead run in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings, the Padres stole the game in the 12th Saturday night by scoring two runs against Brett Tomko on a pair of doubles for a 3-1 victory at Dodger Stadium.
Left fielder Andre Ethier short-hopped a ball hit to left-center by Jose Cruz Jr., allowing Khalil Greene to score from second. Geoff Blum followed with another double, this one down the right-field line, that drove in Cruz.
Trevor Hoffman retired the side for his 505th save, and the Dodgers fell two games behind in the National League West.
The duel between Penny and Peavy was everything everyone said it would be.
“Those guys could be a coin toss to see who starts in the All-Star game the way they’ve been pitching,” Dodgers outfielder Luis Gonzalez said Friday night.
Penny battled through a couple of early jams to exit the game having given up one earned run and five hits in seven innings. He struck out seven.
“It was a tough game, it was a great game,” Penny said. “It was a fun game to be a part of.”
Peavy matched the National League’s winningest pitcher zero for zero, also giving up a solitary run in seven innings, striking out six and limiting the Dodgers to five hits.
Peavy’s lone mistake was a full-count pitch that Nomar Garciaparra drove over the wall in right-center in the fifth inning to tie the contest at 1-1.
The home run was only the second given up this season by Peavy and ended his streak of 84 homerless innings pitched, which was the longest active streak in baseball.
For Garciaparra, the blast was his second of the year and first since April 16. Garciaparra entered the series in an 0-for-16 slump, from which he broke out by going three for four with a run batted in Friday.
Peavy entered the game with an imposing 0.88 road ERA and 4-0 record outside of San Diego.
Peavy faced only one more than the minimum number of batters in the first four innings, that being Garciaparra, who singled to center in the second.
Outside of Garciaparra’s home run, the Dodgers didn’t threaten until the sixth, when Juan Pierre bunted his way on and stole second with two out. However, Peavy escaped unscathed by striking out Russell Martin.
The steal was the 30th for Pierre, who had three of the Dodgers’ five on Friday night.
The Dodgers loaded the bases with two out in the next inning, forcing Manager Grady Little to pinch-hit for Penny. Little went with Olmedo Saenz, who went down swinging.
Another inning brought the Dodgers on the doorstep of the go-ahead run again, but Jeff Kent struck out with Rafael Furcal on third and two out in the eighth inning.
Penny had little resemblance to the pitcher who was 3-6 with a 6.03 ERA in his previous 13 starts against the Padres.
Back-to-back doubles by Mike Cameron and Josh Bard to start the second inning allowed the Padres to go ahead, 1-0, but Penny managed to minimize the damage, in part because of a diving catch by center fielder Juan Pierre for the first out.
“I think you have to give a lot of credit to Peavy,” Little said. “That was a well-pitched game by two good pitchers. It was a well-pitched game on both sides until that last inning.”
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A standoff
Neither Brad Penny nor Jake Peavy got a decision Saturday:
*--* 7 Innings pitched 7 5 Hits 5 1 Earned runs 1 7 Strikeouts 6 2 Walks 1
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