BROWN SHINES, CARRIES BLUE DODGERS' ACE PUTS BAD OPENER BEHIND HIM DODGERS 6, COLORADO 4.

Byline: Rich Hammond  Staff Writer

Kevin Brown's first inning on the mound Sunday afternoon brought the Dodgers a sense of relief, which turned to downright giddiness a couple of hours later.

Brown made amends for his poor opening-day start with seven shutout innings and also had three hits, including a leadoff home run in the sixth inning, as the Dodgers completed a three-game sweep of the Colorado Rockies with a 6-4 victory in front of 28,452 at Dodger Stadium.

Brown, whose health after last September's elbow surgery remained in doubt after his poor outing last Tuesday, looked much sharper against the Rockies. He allowed four hits and zero walks, struck out five and allowed only one baserunner past first base.

He insisted after opening day that he felt fine physically and removed all doubt Sunday. Brown mixed all four pitches well, needed just 79 pitches to get through seven innings and said he felt well enough to go longer, but manager Jim Tracy pulled him after the Dodgers scored two runs to take a 6-0 lead after seven innings.

``That felt better than the first one, obviously,'' said Brown, who also drove in two runs. ``I felt good, but I felt good last time. I just made better pitches, that's what it boils down to. You just try to turn it around as soon as you can, and hopefully this is something to build on.''

Juan Pierre led off the game with a bunt single, but Brown retired the next eight batters and stayed ahead in the count most of the game. His only mistake came in the third inning, when Ben Petrick drilled a double to the wall in right-center field, but Brown retired the last eight batters he faced.

``We never felt disenchanted about what happened in his first start,'' Tracy said. ``He just didn't have it, but there was nothing physically wrong with him; he just had to turn the page and move on.

``With the six-run lead and the pitch total he had, there was no sense in pushing the envelope. It's his second start coming off season-ending surgery, so there's no reason to risk anything.''

In a way, Brown contributed to his departure. The Dodgers led 4-0 going into the bottom of the seventh, and Brown likely would have stayed in the game if the score had remained the same. But the Dodgers chased Colorado starter Mike Hampton (0-2) in the seventh with leadoff singles by Shawn Green and Brian Jordan.

Marquis Grissom greeted reliever Mike James with an RBI single to left-center to score Green, and after Adrian Beltre flied out and Chad Kreuter was hit by a pitch, Brown singled to left to score Jordan for a 6-0 lead.

``The outcome might have been different if Kevin Brown wasn't up there against me at the plate,'' said Hampton, who allowed the six runs on 10 hits, walked five and stuck out three in six-plus innings for his second consecutive poor outing.

Brown also doubled and scored in the fourth inning for the Dodgers' third run and hit a home run to left field to lead off the sixth.

``Obviously it feels better to get a couple hits than to give them up,'' Brown said. ``It's nice when you can pick up a bat and not feel like your arm is going to fall off.''

The 6-0 lead felt safe enough for Tracy to pull Brown, but the Dodgers bullpen made the game interesting. Paul Quantrill relieved Brown to start the eighth and allowed a ground-rule double to Todd Hollandsworth and consecutive singles to Benny Agbayani and Terry Shumpert, who drove in Hollandsworth.

Quantrill struck out Petrick but was relieved by Jesse Orosco, who gave up a pinch-hit RBI double to Larry Walker and a two-run single to Juan Uribe as the Rockies pulled to within 6-4. But Todd Helton popped up to shortstop and Eric Gagne pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his first save.

The Dodgers had taken a 2-0 lead in the third inning when Green singled home Cesar Izturis and Beltre walked with the bases loaded to score Mark Grudzielanek.

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) FRESH START

After a dismal opening day, Kevin Brown rebounds with seven scoreless innings and three hits of his own, including a home run, to help the Dodgers sweep the Colorado Rockies

(2) Kevin Brown connects on a solo homer in the sixth inning Sunday, one of his three hits and two RBI.

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer