Peavy is an Ace Against Dodgers

SAN DIEGO 4, LOS ANGELES (N) 1-----------

By Tim Powers

SAN DIEGO (Ticker) -- Jake Peavy continued his dominance of a division rival and the San Diego Padres used a big first inning to take down the Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-1, and even the three-game series on Saturday.

Peavy (2-0) went the distance in allowing one run and two hits to earn his sixth career complete game. He threw 116 pitches - 80 for strikes - while striking out eight and walking one batter. The reigning National League Cy Young Award winner, Peavy worked around a leadoff walk in the ninth by getting Russell Martin to ground into a double play before retiring James Loney to collect his first complete game since September 2006. The 26-year-old righthander improved to 10-1 lifetime against the Dodgers, including eight consecutive decisions against the National League West foe.

Dodgers starter Brad Penny (1-1) continued a trend in the opposite direction, falling to 0-4 with a 6.12 ERA in five career starts at Petco Park. The 29-year-old righthander got off to a rough start when San Diego used six singles to push across four runs in the first and give Peavy all the support he would need. Kevin Kouzmanoff, Khalil Greene and Josh Bard all had run-scoring singles in the bottom of the frame and Scott Hairston added a sacrifice fly in the inning. Penny lasted six innings, yielding four runs and 10 hits while striking out three and walking one.

The Dodgers' lone run came on an unusual play in the fourth. After Rafael Furcal tripled to lead off the inning, Bard made a sliding catch of Russell Martin's foul pop-up while sliding into the Padres dugout. Plate umpire Jim Joyce allowed Furcal to advance a base, ruling that Bard had fallen into foul territory after the catch, making the score 4-1. Brian Giles, Kouzmanoff, and Greene all turned in multi-hit efforts for the Padres, who did not collect an extra-base hit in the contest.