Lowe has to leave, but Dodgers win and increase lead in West

Kouzmanoff almost did the same to the Dodgers on Wednesday night, his sixth-inning comebacker hitting starter Derek Lowe behind the right knee and forcing him out of the game.

The Dodgers were well on their way to claiming a 7-2 victory over the Padres in the rubber match of their three-game series at Petco Park and opening a 3 1/2 -game gap on the second-place Diamondbacks in the National League West when Lowe was visited on the mound by assistant trainer Todd Tomczyk and Manager Joe Torre, who took the ball out of his hand.

Lowe, who said he felt tightness while throwing a couple of practice pitches, was taken out of the game for precautionary reasons. "There was no sense to keep going," he said.

Torre said Lowe should be able to make his next start.

Two home runs by Manny Ramirez and another by James Loney secured a victory for Lowe, who was charged with a run and three hits over 5 1/3 innings and retreated to the clubhouse with a 5-1 edge.

Though there seemed to be little concern about Lowe's condition, questions remained about Brad Penny, who made his first appearance in almost a month. The Dodgers' opening day starter loaded the bases upon entering the game in the bottom of the seventh and exited without recording an out.

Penny, who was activated Wednesday and said his goal was to reclaim a spot in the Dodgers' rotation, delivered 17 pitches to three batters. He walked Will Venable, gave up back-to-back singles to Josh Bard and Mike Antonelli and his night was over.

Penny was replaced by Cory Wade, who limited the damage to a run and kept the Dodgers ahead, 5-2.

The day had started with considerable promise, as cheers erupted in the Dodgers' clubhouse as players watched the San Francisco Giants hand the Diamondbacks their sixth consecutive loss on a two-out, two-run triple by Eugenio Velez in the ninth inning.

Like the Dodgers, the Diamondbacks are off today. When the Dodgers' nearest pursuers resume play on Friday, starting for them will be Webb, who, coincidentally or not, is 0-3 with a 12.51 earned-run average since being hit by Kouzmanoff.

The Dodgers, who start a three-game set in Colorado on Friday, could ill afford a similar downturn in Lowe's form.

Lowe is 5-1 with a 1.58 ERA over his last seven starts. Until Brian Giles scored on a groundout by Kouzmanoff in the first inning Wednesday, Lowe hadn't given up a run in 19 innings.

The only other trouble Lowe encountered was in the second, when he had runners on second and third with two outs but forced Giles to ground out to third.

The Dodgers made up the 1-0 deficit with three runs in the top half of that inning. They tied the score on a solo home run by Loney and went ahead by a run when Matt Kemp, who drew a walk, scored from first on a double to right-center by Blake DeWitt. Russell Martin drove in DeWitt with a single to center.

Ramirez hit the first of his two two-run home runs in the fifth, taking Padres starter Shawn Estes deep over the fence in right-center. Four innings later, Ramirez hit another bomb to the same place, this time off Dirk Hayhurst.

dylan.hernandez@latimes.com