Homers from Kent, Kemp help Penny to 11th win of season

Dodgers 10, Phillies 3

LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Dodgers gave Brad Penny more run support than he needed as they piled it on against 44-year-old Jamie Moyer.

Jeff Kent and Matt Kemp hit three-run homers and the Dodgers routed the Philadelphia Phillies 10-3 on Monday night for their season-high fifth straight victory. Los Angeles maintained its one-game lead over San Diego in the NL West.

"We've been swinging the bats pretty well, so I knew we were going to score some runs," Kemp said. "But I didn't know we were going to break out like that."

Penny (11-1) became the first Dodgers pitcher to begin a season 11-1 since Doug Rau in 1977. The right-hander, coming off his second straight appearance in the All-Star Game, allowed a run and four hits over seven innings against an offense that came in leading the National League in runs, on-base percentage and extra-base hits.

"They definitely have some guys who can swing the bats," catcher Russell Martin said. "Most hitters feast on mistakes. But when you've got a pitcher that's really not making many mistakes, it doesn't matter who's hitting. It's going to be hard for them to produce some runs."

Penny won his sixth straight decision over a span of 10 starts and lowered his ERA to 2.33 while striking out eight and walking three. He also tied Philadelphia's Cole Hamels and Carlos Zambrano of the Cubs for the NL lead in wins.

"When a team is hot like we are, it makes it easier to pitch," said Penny, who worked up a blister on his middle finger in his previous start. "I was a bit uncomfortable at first because I hadn't pitched in a while, but the last three or four innings I started hitting my spots."

Moyer (7-8) lost his third straight start, giving up 10 runs and 10 hits in 5 1/3 innings. His ERA jumped from 4.43 to 4.92.

"I've made over 500 starts, and this just goes into the whole pile with all of them -- good ones and bad ones," said Moyer, who has 223 career wins. "The score obviously makes it look a lot worse, but that's baseball. It makes no sense to go home and cry about it. I've been in this game too long not to realize that one game doesn't make a season."

With the bases loaded and two outs in the fourth and the Phillies already trailing 6-1, manager Charlie Manuel decided to let Moyer bat for himself instead of using a pinch hitter. Penny struck him out.

"I definitely thought about hitting for him there," Manuel said. "But at the same time, what came into play was where we were at with our bullpen."

Juan Pierre's presence on the bases in the first and third innings appeared to unnerve Moyer, and it translated into three-run innings both times against the veteran left-hander.

"You have to respect his ability to steal bases. Other than that, I don't think he's a distraction," Moyer said.

Pierre led off the third with a single and stole second. Martin walked, and Kent drove Moyer's next pitch into the left field pavilion for his 12th homer and a 6-1 lead. The three RBIs increased Kent's career total to 1,430, tying Hall of Famer Yogi Berra for 56th place all-time.

In the first, Rafael Furcal and Pierre singled, Furcal scored on Martin's groundout, and Pierre stole third before James Loney hit a sacrifice fly. Kent, who walked in front of Loney, came all the way around on a double by Nomar Garciaparra.

"Pierre's definitely a distraction and he creates a big problem for us," Manuel said. "When he gets on second, it seems like he steals third much easier than second. When you've got someone like that, you always have guys in scoring position and you stand a good chance of scoring. That's what we ran into early on tonight."

The Dodgers broke it open with a four-run sixth. Andre Ethier had an RBI single and Kemp drove the next pitch into the left field bullpen for his fourth homer, giving Los Angeles a 10-1 lead. Moyer faced two more batters before coming out.

"He throws a lot of soft stuff, so you've just got to patient and make sure you get a pitch up to hit," Kemp said. "It's hard to stay back on Moyer because he's a good pitcher, and you usually get yourself out on him. That's what I did my first two at-bats, but I got the job done on the third at-bat."

Game notes
The first time Moyer pitched at Dodger Stadium was on July 10, 1986, as a Chicago Cubs rookie. Two of his teammates were OF Gary Matthews and SS Chris Speier -- whose sons now play for the Los Angeles Angels. ... RHP Roberto Hernandez, who is just two years younger than Moyer, made his first appearance for the Dodgers' Triple-A Las Vegas team on Monday night. He pitched a scoreless inning and allowed one hit. ... Ethier started in left in place of Luis Gonzalez, who is 0-for-13 lifetime against Moyer.