ANOTHER COMEBACK FOR DODGERS VALENTIN'S 2-RUN TRIPLE IN 10TH BEATS PADRES DODGERS 3, SAN DIEGO 1.

Byline: Tony Jackson  Staff Writer

SAN DIEGO - Woody Williams only appeared to be having his way with the Dodgers on Wednesday night. The San Diego right-hander only looked like he was toying with them, dominating them, making them look foolish time after time on his way to seven shutout innings and the most impressive performance by an opposing starter this season.

The whole time, it was actually the Dodgers who were toying with Williams.

``He was pretty much on all night,'' Dodgers center fielder Milton Bradley would later say. ``We didn't really even threaten him at any time. But once we got to their bullpen, we knew we could do some damage.''

In the latest chapter of what has become baseball's most compelling, early-season storyline, the Dodgers eked out another dramatic, come- from-behind victory, this time 3-1 over the Padres in 10 innings. They did it with what has become their tried-and-true formula, that of methodically driving up Williams' pitch count to the point that he couldn't continue.

So, when Padres manager Bruce Bochy called on his bullpen to protect Williams' 1-0 lead, the Dodgers saw the opportunity for which they had patiently waited all night. J.D. Drew, the second batter to face reliever Akinori Otsuka, tied the score with a one-out, solo home run in the eighth. Jose Valentin, the last batter to face reliever Scott Linebrink in the 10th, won it with a two-out, two-run triple off the out-of-town scoreboard in right field.

With that, the Dodgers had their eighth consecutive win, matching last season's longest streak. They also had run baseball's best record to 12-2, their best 14-game mark since 1955, when the Brooklyn Dodgers rode that shotgun start to the franchise's first World Series title.

All this on an evening when Williams, right up to the point he was lifted, after throwing 106 pitches, had looked like Cy Young reincarnate.

``We just tried to take good at-bats,'' Valentin said. ``The guy made some good pitches, but we kept battling. The way we're playing and the way we're hitting right now, we just never feel like we're going to lose the game. Confidence is so big for us right now. We just always feel like sooner or later, our time is going to come.''

That it finally did come was because of several factors, not the least of which was forcing Williams out of the game with a deluge of prolonged at-bats. It also was because Dodgers pitcher Derek Lowe kept the Padres within reach for seven innings, then squeezed one more inning out of his tiring right arm after Drew tied the score.

Lowe helped himself with two key defensive plays, both against Padres first baseman Phil Nevin. Leading off the fourth inning, Nevin smoked a line drive back through the box, but Lowe reflexively stuck out his glove and snared it. Then, after a leadoff walk to Brian Giles in the sixth, Nevin hit what should have been a base hit up the middle only for Lowe to pick it on the short hop and start an inning-ending double play.

That's just what Lowe did with his left arm. With his right arm, he held the Padres to five hits and an unearned run over eight innings, a fitting encore to his three-hit shutout against them last Friday night at Dodger Stadium.

``I think one of the hardest things to do is pitch against the same team in back-to-back (starts),'' Lowe said. ``Late in the game, you're facing some guys for the eighth time, and you kind of run out of tricks. They started making some good adjustments. The ball Geoff Blum hit probably would have been a home run had we not been playing here.''

Instead, it was a loud flyball that Bradley ran down just in front of the 411-foot sign in right-center in what might be baseball's most pitcher- friendly park. That ended the seventh inning with two runners on base.

Duaner Sanchez (1-1) relieved Lowe in the ninth and pitched around a one-out single by Sean Burroughs. Yhency Brazoban, who has been nearly flawless subbing for injured closer Eric Gagne, worked around another one-out hit by Brian Giles in the 10th to nail down his fourth save.

Tony Jackson,[phone]

tony.jackson(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, 4 boxes

Photo:

(1 -- color) The Dodgers' Jason Phillips is tagged out by Padres' catcher Ramon Hernandez in the second inning.

(2) The Dodgers' Jose Valentin, left, celebrates after hitting a two-run triple in the 10th inning Wednesday to beat the Padres.

Lenny Ignelzi/Associated Press

Box:

(1) DODGERS at SAN DIEGO

- Tony Jackson

(2) GAME RECAP

(3) HOW THE RUNS SCORED

(4) ALMANAC