Thu Aug 21 17:59:56 2008

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Lowe, Loney lead Dodgers past Rockies

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Los Angeles, CA (Sports Network) - James Loney was 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBI and Derek Lowe silenced the recently resurgent Rockies to help the Dodgers to a 3-1 victory over Colorado in the series finale of a three-game set.

Lowe (10-10) struck out seven and surrendered just one run on four hits and a pair of walks for Los Angeles, which finished a ten-game homestand at 7-3.

The Dodgers currently stand 1 1/2 games behind the NL-West leading Arizona Diamondbacks, who have Brandon Webb pitching on the mound against San Diego Thursday night.

Jorge De La Rosa (6-7) was nearly as effective as Lowe, allowing two runs -- just one earned -- on four hits and two walks but was credited with the loss. Clint Barmes was 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored for Colorado, which won the first five games of a six-game road trip.

The Rockies got on the board in their first at-bat. Barmes singled, stole second, moved up another 90 feet on Seth Smith's grounder to second and scored when Matt Holiday lofted a sac fly to center field.

LA tied it up in the fourth thanks to third baseman Ian Stewart's inability to control Manny Ramirez's bouncer to his left. Ramirez reached safely, stole second and was brought home on Loney's single to left.

Matt Kemp's two-out double an inning later preceded Andre Ethier's single into the right field gap. Though Ethier was thrown out trying to stretch his hit into a double, Kemp came around for the go-ahead run.

Lowe retired eight straight before walking Jeff Baker with one away in the eighth. The Dodgers went to the bullpen, and Hong-Chih Kuo got out of the inning unscathed despite allowing a two-out double to Barmes.

Loney's lead-off blast off Luis Vizcaino in the bottom of the frame made it a two-run game. It was the first run Colorado's bullpen yielded on the road trip, a stretch spanning 17 innings.

Kuo shut down the heart of the Rockies order in the eighth, and Jonathan Broxton struck out the side in the ninth after giving up a lead-off double to Stewart, earning his 10 save of the season.

Game Notes

The Rockies out-hit the Dodgers, 6-5...The Dodgers lead the season series 8-7 despite winning just two of the past eight meetings...The only time the Rockies swept a six-game road trip occurred during their magical run at the end of the season, as San Diego and LA fell victim in three-games apiece between September 21-27, 2007...On Friday, the Rockies go home to play Cincinnati for three games, while the Dodgers open a 10-game road trip with four straight in Philadelphia.