ESPN.com Los Angeles/Colorado recap

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Wednesday, May 23 3:05pm ET
Brown bounces back to stop Rockies

RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME LOG

DENVER (AP) – It would take more than a minor rib injury to keep Kevin Brown from bouncing back from his worst start of the season.


	Kevin Brown battled sore ribs before leaving after 6 2/3 innings. He improved to 6-2.

Brown outpitched Pedro Astacio and helped the Los Angeles Dodgers stop a three-game losing streak with a 6-4 decision Wednesday over the Colorado Rockies.

Brown (6-2) took a four-hit shutout into the seventh inning before fading. He wound up allowing three runs -- two earned -- and eight hits in 6 1/3 innings.

The Dodgers' ace said his problems in the seventh could be traced to fielding a bunt in the fourth when he "tweaked myself a little bit. The ground gave way, and I kind of strained my ribs again. It's the same thing I've been dealing with all year. It got real bad after that play."

Asked if he might miss a start, Brown said, "I'll just deal with it. I'll treat it and do what I can. It's not like I'm going to say, 'I'm not going to pitch.'"

Last Friday in New York, Brown was pounded for five runs and nine hits in four innings.

"I'd rather not have an outing like the last one," he said. "This would be preferable. It's good to get a win here today and get out of here with at least a win in the series."

Rockies manager Buddy Bell said Brown "had great stuff. I thought Petey pitched pretty well, too, after that first inning. We had some defensive breakdowns. When you're facing Kevin Brown, you've got to play just about perfect, and we didn't do that.

"Overall, I think Brown probably did as much damage today as we could handle."

Jeff Shaw pitched 1 1/3 innings for his league-leading 14th save in 15 chances, allowing an RBI double to Juan Pierre in the ninth.

Alex Cora had a two-run double and Paul Lo Duca a solo homer for Los Angeles.

Astacio (4-5) allowed two runs and two hits in the first but no more hits until the seventh, when Cora's double made it 4-0. Astacio went seven innings, giving up four hits and four runs, three of them earned.

On the second pitch of the game, Lo Duca homered into the right-field bullpen. Tom Goodwin doubled and went to third on right fielder Larry Walker's error, and Goodwin scored on Mark Grudzielanek's groundout.

Astacio settled down, facing the minimum in each of the next five innings, and striking out two batters in three of those innings. After the first-inning hits by Lo Duca and Goodwin, Astacio didn't surrender another hit until Dave Hansen's bloop single in the seventh.

Gary Sheffield was hit by a pitch leading off the seventh and went to third on Hansen's two-out hit. Cora then doubled off left fielder Greg Norton's glove but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple. The Rockies made it 4-3 in their half. Todd Helton doubled and Todd Walker had an RBI single. Norton doubled, and Terry Shumpert hit an RBI single. Reliever Mike Fetters threw wild to first on a pickoff attempt, allowing another run to score. Los Angeles scored twice off Kane Davis in the eighth. Grudzielanek had an RBI single, and the other run scored on third baseman Shumpert's fielding error. Brown worked out of a jam in the fourth. With two outs, Larry Walker walked and went to second on Helton's single, but right fielder Shawn Green tracked down Todd Walker's long fly ball at the wall.

Pierre led off that inning with an apparent bunt single and went to second on Brown's throwing error, but Pierre was called out by home plate umpire Gerry Davis for running inside the baseline on his way to first.

"I guess you see something new every day," Pierre said. "It was the umpire's judgment. I think it shocked everybody in the park, including myself. From that angle, it's a tough call. It probably was going to be a good inning, too."

Pierre had another baserunning mistake in the sixth. He walked with one out but was hit by Neifi Perez's grounder to second and was called out, with Perez awarded a single.

Game notes
After the game, the Rockies activated RHP Juan Acevedo from the disabled list and optioned SS Juan Uribe to Triple-A Colorado Springs. ... Astacio now is 0-3 in his quest for career victory No. 100. ... The Dodgers, in the midst of a 12-game stretch against Houston and Colorado, return home for three games against Houston beginning Friday and then three against Colorado. ... Dodgers 1B Eric Karros, who left Monday night's game with a sore back, will be examined Thursday by Dr. Robert Watkins, a back specialist, in Los Angeles. ... Rockies 3B Jeff Cirillo, who bruised the back of his left hand when he was hit by a pitch Tuesday night, was not in the starting lineup Wednesday.