DODGERS PUT HURT ON CUBS PENNY GAINS NL LEAD WITH HIS 16TH VICTORY DODGERS 6, CHICAGO CUBS 0.

Byline: TONY JACKSON Staff Writer

CHICAGO -- There might be bigger wins in the Dodgers' immediate future, especially with that upcoming San Diego series circled in red. There might be more memorable moments, more riveting twists and more emotional catharsis in what remains of the regular season, and possibly the playoffs.

But if the Dodgers manage to hang on to their razor-thin lead in the National League West and bring home a division title, it is quite possible that their most important victory will have come Wednesday.

That's when they did what they were supposed to do against teams like the hapless Chicago Cubs, which is pound them into submission.

Pound them to the tune of 6-0, in front of 35,868 at chilly Wrigley Field.

The rout was similar to the one that appeared to be taking shape the previous evening, when the Dodgers cruised to a 7-0 lead. That was before their offense and their starting pitcher imploded simultaneously, and they wound up blowing the lead, the game and a golden opportunity to gain ground in the standings in what became a stunning 11-inning defeat.

Collapses like that almost always come with hangovers. But if the Dodgers needed a Bloody Mary, they found it in the form of Brad Penny, who stated his case for the Cy Young Award with seven shutout innings and moved into the National League lead with his 16th win. They also found it in the form of Rafael Furcal, unquestionably the club's most valuable player, who singled, homered and doubled in his first three at-bats and scored all three times.

And finally, they found it in the form of Nomar Garciaparra, who doubled twice, drove in two runs and seems to be busting out of a hitting slump that more or less has bedeviled him since the All-Star break.

So, while the Dodgers didn't increase their lead over the second-place Padres, who cruised in Cincinnati, they did rediscover their emotional center in the wake of what arguably was the darkest moment of their season.

``We have a lot of veteran guys with winning backgrounds,'' said Furcal, who played for a division winner in every one of his six previous big-leagues seasons. ``(Tuesday) night was a tough night for everybody here.

``But as soon as we got back here, we knew it was a new game. We had to forget about what happened and try to do better.''

And so, the Dodgers quickly pounced on Cubs right-hander Angel Guzman. They scored a first-inning run on Jeff Kent's two-out single to drive in Furcal. Furcal's homer leading off the third made it 2-0. After Furcal began the fifth with a double, Kenny Lofton walked and both advanced on a wild pitch, Garciaparra chased Guzman (0-6) with a two-run double to the left-field corner. Marlon Anderson's sacrifice fly and Russell Martin's RBI single later in the inning put the game on ice.

The Dodgers had suffered two previous epic defeats -- blowing a five- run, ninth-inning lead at San Diego on April 30 and a six-run, fifth-inning lead at Arizona two days later -- and failed to quickly rebound from either one.

But those defeats were part of a five-game losing streak that was immediately followed by a five-game winning streak, the first sign of this club's remarkable resilience. The second sign came just after the All-Star break, when the Dodgers lost 13 of 14, then immediately won 17 of 18.

The third sign came here.

``It's like anything else in life,'' Dodgers manager Grady Little said. ``If you experience something more than your share of times, you learn to deal with it a little bit better. That's the way this ballclub has been throughout the season.''

The Dodgers (77-68) remained 1 1/2 games ahead of the Padres, who begin a monumental four-game series Friday night at Dodger Stadium. With 17 games to go, the Dodgers also maintained at least a three-game lead to secure a playoff spot because the Padres led the wild-card standings by 1 1/2 games.

Penny (16-8) scattered seven hits, struck out six and walked no one. Using more breaking balls than he usually does, he also recorded 10 groundouts. Most important, he gave the Dodgers the one thing they needed most at such a crucial point in the season.

He stopped the bleeding.

[e-mail]

[phone]

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo:

Dodgers starter Brad Penny scattered seven hits and gave up no runs in seven innings against the Cubs.

Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press

Box:

DODGERS at CHICAGO CUBS

- Doug Padilla