A LEFT BLOW FOR L.A. DODGERS WIN, BUT LOWE HURTS HAND DODGERS 4, ARIZONA 3.

Byline: TONY JACKSON  Staff Writer

PHOENIX -- The ever-expanding list of things for the Dodgers to be worried about wasn't supposed to include Derek Lowe's left hand.

That's the one he keeps hidden inside a large leather glove when he pitches, the one he uses for fielding the occasional comebacker, tagging the occasional runner and little else of baseball consequence.

But in the fourth inning Saturday night -- more than an hour before Jeff Kent's ninth-inning home run snapped the Dodgers' four-game losing streak with a 4-3 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks in front of 40,358 at Chase Field that allowed them to stay alone in first place for at least one more day -- Lowe's left hand found another, more sinister purpose.

It made the hair stand up on the necks of general manager Ned Colletti, manager Grady Little and pitching coach Rick Honeycutt.

And, of course, of Lowe himself.

``It wasn't good,'' he said, when asked of his initial reaction.

With the Dodgers' hold on the National League West lead already tenuous, with two of their three closest pursuers having already won and the other staring at them from across the field, Lowe threw a pitch to Chad Tracy that came right back at him. Lowe stuck out his glove enough to deflect it a few feet to his right, where it stopped dead in the infield grass.

But while third baseman Wilson Betemit picked up the ball and Tracy beat out an infield single, Lowe simply took off his glove and began shaking his obviously injured left hand.

Little and a trainer came out of the dugout and immediately decided to remove Lowe from the game with what looked from a distance like a broken hand.

The good news was that X-rays were negative, and Lowe was found to have nothing more than a bruised thumb. But the bad news is that Lowe is listed as day to day, and there is no guarantee he will make his next scheduled start Friday against Colorado.

And the Dodgers don't have another starter they can count on at the moment.

``I still can't really move my thumb,'' said Lowe, who had a portable cast on the hand after the game.

``We'll just have to play it by ear. I won't be able to throw unless I can catch the ball and get some movement, and that will come with time. But hopefully, we'll do all we can possibly do as far as testing it. When you have something like this, all you can do is ice and (stimulate), the stuff everybody hates doing.''

The Dodgers (67-62) again failed to muster much offense in the late innings and again saw a normally reliable middle reliever blow a one-run lead in the eighth inning.

This time, it was Brett Tomko, who came in with a 1.26 ERA in 14 relief appearances. He entered with a 3-1 lead, but that was gone after Tomko allowed a sacrifice fly to Craig Counsell in the seventh and an RBI single to Orlando Hudson -- the same guy who ended Friday night's marathon with a two-run homer in the 15th inning -- in the eighth.

But rookie Jonathan Broxton (3-0), the guy who had coughed it up in the eighth inning Friday, saved Tomko, coming on with runners on first and second and two outs and getting Johnny Estrada to line out to short.

Kent, on a 3-2 pitch from Luis Vizcaino (3-4) that he hit deep into the left-field bleachers leading off the ninth, then saved the Dodgers from themselves.

``All I know is that was a huge one right there,'' Little said.

The Dodgers maintained their one-game lead over San Diego and their 3 1/2-game advantage over San Francisco. They also pushed the Diamondbacks into third place, four games back. But it has become clear any thoughts the Dodgers might have had of cruising to the title when they were winning 17 of 18 games a few weeks back amounted to a grand illusion.

Lowe had won four of his past five starts, posting a 1.76 ERA in the process, and was sailing through this one. He gave up five hits in 3 2/3innings, but three of them -- including the one by Tracy that sent Lowe to the clubhouse -- never left the infield.

Takashi Saito, who had help blowing an 11th-inning lead the previous evening when Betemit botched the throw to first on a sacrifice attempt, pitched a perfect ninth for his 15th save in 17 chances.

The Dodgers won for just the second time in eight games this season at Arizona.

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CAPTION(S):

3 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) The Dodgers' Jeff Kent is congratulated after hitting a solo homer in the ninth inning.

(2) Dodgers starter Derek Lowe, left, is helped off the field by trainer Matt Wilson after being hit by a line drive.

Roy Dabner/Associated Press

(3) BILLINGSLEY

Box:

DODGERS at ARIZONA

- Tony Jackson