Dodgers win it outside the box

When Rafael Furcal scored from second on an infield hit by Delwyn Young to lift the Dodgers to a 3-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants in the bottom of the ninth Tuesday night, the man who waved him home was Mariano Duncan, who three innings earlier was coaching first base.

Inside the home team’s clubhouse at Dodger Stadium, third base coach Larry Bowa was fuming. He was still fuming 30 minutes later when recounting how he unleashed his fury on combative third base umpire Ed Montague and got himself thrown out of the game.

“He ran me out of the game,” Bowa said. “That’s what set me off.”

The point of contention was Major League Baseball’s new rule that forbids base coaches to leave their designated boxes.

“The people in New York have no idea what they’re doing,” he said, referring to Major League Baseball’s headquarters. “You can’t coach there.”

Bowa said the rule was never enforced during spring training or on opening day. “I was in the same place yesterday and nobody said a word,” Bowa said.

Manager Joe Torre defended Bowa, saying the new rule was misguided. Of Bowa, he said, “I wouldn’t want anyone else over there.”

Young, who reported to workouts early several times this spring to field ground balls hit by Bowa, said he had never seen that side of his notoriously fiery coach. “We got to see it tonight,” Young said.

Joking of how Bowa bowled over a tank of energy drink upon returning to the dugout, starter Derek Lowe said, “We had a little bit of a flood.”

Up to then, the day had been tranquil, as Matt Kemp gracefully accepted an assignment on the bench to make room in the outfield for Juan Pierre.

Pierre, who had his major-league leading streak of 434 consecutive games ended on opening day and appeared to be the odd man out, was granted a start in left field. Andre Ethier moved from left to right, sending Kemp to the bench.

Andruw Jones remained in center.

“I just don’t want anybody to be sitting too long,” Torre said. “I just want to get everybody some at-bats early. My goal, obviously, is to be able to have everyone contribute.”

Griping over playing time contributed to the Dodgers’ problems in the clubhouse last season, but Kemp, who batted for Pierre in the sixth, wasn’t upset.

“We’ve got four good outfielders, man,” Kemp said. “You can’t go wrong with whoever’s in the lineup. You have to deal with it.”

The lineup card Torre filled out on this day provided little resistance against Matt Cain, the Giants’ 23-year-old hard-luck starter who had a 3.65 earned-run average last season but the second-lowest run support of any starter in the majors at 3.51, resulting in a 7-16 record.

Cain held the Dodgers to two hits over the first five innings, but he was matched by Lowe.

Cain outlasted Bowa by one batter, relying on left-hander Jack Taschner to get him out of a two-out, bases-loaded jam in the sixth. Cain had five strikeouts in 5 2/3 scoreless innings.

A calf bruised by Jose Castillo’s infield single forced Lowe to leave the game with the bases loaded, but two of the three runners inherited by left-hander Joe Beimel scored in the seventh.

The Dodgers tied it in the bottom of the inning when Furcal singled in two runs.

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dylan.hernandez@latimes.com