DENVER -- The Dodgers offense can come out of hiding again. Derek Lowe doesn't pitch again until next week.
Lowe's victory number remained stuck on one Tuesday night after a 5-1 Dodgers loss to the Rockies that was accompanied by injuries to Jeff Kent and Kenny Lofton.
Neither 38-year-old is expected to start Wednesday. They both left in the fifth inning, Kent with a stiff lower back he tried to play through but couldn't, Lofton with a left hamstring that tightened when he chased the game-winning three-run homer by Brad Hawpe in the fourth inning.
But the tone of the game was set in the first inning, when Rockies starter Byung-Hyun Kim's pitches hit the brick backstop more times than they hit Los Angeles bats. He opened the game by walking the bases loaded, during which he threw three pitches past catcher Danny Ardoin and had Rafael Furcal steal a base. Because the Coors Field backstop is brick and so close to home plate, twice Dodgers were not able to score from third on balls that rebounded back to Ardoin.
So with no outs and the bases loaded, cleanup hitter J.D. Drew lined a single to right field, scoring Furcal. But Lofton tried to follow from second base and was thrown out at the plate. Kent struck out, Jose Cruz bounced to first, the Dodgers settled for only one run and Kim was resuscitated.
"When a pitcher is on the mound trying to self-destruct and you let him get away with just one run, that's the difference in the game," said Dodgers manager Grady Little. "We've seen it before -- a pitcher on the ropes -- if he's able to come out with one run, he's able to get some personal momentum going and you better watch out."
Kim, who needed 29 pitches to get through the first inning, allowed no Dodgers past second base over the next six innings. Meanwhile, Lowe fell well short of another quality start, charged with five runs on nine hits in six innings, without a walk or a strikeout.
"I'm a ground-ball pitcher, and I had one [actually two] fly-ball [outs]," said Lowe. "To me, that's as good as I can pitch here. I wish the results were different. My goal was not to walk guys. We did that. It came down to the home run."
Not that Hawpe's success was a real surprise. He came into the game 4-for-5 with a home run against Lowe lifetime, on a current tear (7-for-15) and with a .408 career average against the Dodgers. And in this game, Matt Holliday handled Lowe even better, going 4-for-4 and figuring in all three rallies.
"I tried to throw a first-pitch breaking ball to a hot hitter," Lowe said of the home run. "When a guy is hot, sometimes those things happen."
Lowe came into this game having pitched seven consecutive quality starts, with only one win to show for them. He wasn't feeling too sorry for himself after breaking that string.
"I led the league in run support one year with seven and a half runs. You can do a lot with seven and a half runs," he said. "You can have a five ERA and win 18 games. You give up five runs, and you can't expect to win a high percentage of games."
Lofton had a pretty good workout before he was injured. In the first inning, he walked, moved to second on a wild pitch and was thrown out trying to score on Drew's single. In the third inning, he legged out a single off Kim's glove and stole second base, tying Furcal for the team lead with 10. That's only one short of the team high for the entire 2005 season (Jayson Werth and Antonio Perez).
Maybe it was all of that running that caught up with Lofton's hamstring, or maybe it was the Mile High altitude or maybe he didn't drink enough fluids before the game.
"Elevation and hydration, they go together," said trainer Stan Johnston.
Lofton, who started the season on the disabled list with a strained calf muscle, was puzzled.
"Usually, my body aches and I'm sore here, but I didn't feel that this time," Lofton said. "I ran after that home run and shut it down when I felt it in my leg. It was a cramp, but it went right away. It just feels kind of sore now. When I wake up I'll see how I feel."
Kent left the clubhouse before reporters were allowed in, but Little said he doubted either player could play Wednesday except for possibly pinch-hitting. The Dodgers bench is already thin with the decision to carry a 12-man pitching staff. There are only four outfielders with the club.
