IT'S A BAD FIRST FOR DODGERS LOFTON'S OUT COMES BACK TO HAUNT L.A. COLORADO 5, DODGERS 1.

Byline: TONY JACKSON  Staff Writer

DENVER -- There was no shortage of reasons why things went badly for the Dodgers on Tuesday night. There was the inability to generate much offense against the decidedly mediocre Byung-Hyun Kim.

There was just enough ineffectiveness by Derek Lowe. There were the injuries to Kenny Lofton and Jeff Kent, which are believed to be minor but were serious enough to knock both of them out for the final four innings and all of today's game.

Mostly, there was that fateful, first- inning play at the plate. The one that transformed what was beginning to look like a Dodgers cakewalk into an uninspired, 5-1 loss to the Colorado Rockies in front of 23,192 at Coors Field.

Three batters into the game, Kim already had issued three walks and uncorked two wild pitches, plus a third one that caromed so hard off the brick wall behind home plate that no one could advance.

With the bases loaded and none out, the Dodgers had J.D. Drew, Jeff Kent and Jose Cruz coming up. After a short mound visit by Rockies pitching coach Bob Apodaca, Kim bore down and started Drew off with two strikes.

Drew drove his next pitch into shallow right field, dropping it just in front and to the right of rifle-armed Brad Hawpe. As Furcal jogged home, Dodgers third-base coach Rich Donnelly enthusiastically waved the speedy Lofton around third. In the first inning. With no one out.

``I didn't pick up Kenny right away, so I don't know if he hesitated (off second),'' Donnelly said. ``Usually, if it's hit really hard in the first inning, I hold the guy up, but I usually send Kenny and (Furcal) every time on a base hit. But (Hawpe) made a (heck) of a play. He had to come get the ball, and then he squared himself and threw a perfect strike.''

The ball actually was up the line about five feet when it arrived, but so was Lofton. Catcher Danny Ardoin caught it and tagged Lofton in one motion.

For the record, Lofton later said he hadn't hesitated off second, but that was academic. Kent and Cruz went out easily, ending a one-run inning that should have netted more and kicking off a frustrating night when the Dodgers went 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position. Kim gave up only one hit over the next four innings, and Hawpe's three-run homer off Lowe did in the Dodgers.

But it was no more damaging than his throw to the plate had been.

``We had a pitcher on the mound trying to self-destruct,'' Dodgers manager Grady Little said of Kim. ``We let him get away with just one run. That was the difference in that game.''

Lofton felt a twinge in his left hamstring while running toward the centerfield wall on Hawpe's homer. Kent's lower back stiffened up, and although he tried to play through it, he ultimately decided he couldn't. Both injuries are believed to be the result of Colorado's high altitude and dry air.

Lofton and Kent are expected to sit out this afternoon's series finale for precautionary reasons, but both also could return as soon as Friday night.

Lowe (1-3) whose tough sinkerball makes him the type of pitcher who shouldn't be affected by this notoriously hitter-friendly park, recorded 15 of his 18 outs via ground ball and allowed only four fly balls.

But one of those was Hawpe's homer, and another fell in for a two-out, bloop single by Matt Holliday in the fifth, scoring Todd Helton for a 5-1 lead that effectively broke the Dodgers' backs. The Dodgers are scoring 3.44 runs a game when Lowe starts this season. Take out Opening Day, when he was awful in an 11-10 loss to Atlanta, and that figure drops to 2.63.

``(But) when you give up five, you can't expect to win a high percentage of those games,'' said Lowe, who also allowed nine hits.

Kim (2-1) threw 102 pitches in his seven-inning stint, but 29 of those came in the first inning. After that, either he was remarkably efficient, or the Dodgers just didn't make him work much. He sliced his ERA from 5.89 to 4.62. But even when he left the game, the Dodgers couldn't take advantage, leaving a runner in scoring position in both the eighth and ninth.

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CAPTION(S):

3 photos, box

Photo:

(1) The Rockies' Danny Ardoin, left, turns to apply the tag to get Kenny Lofton out as he tries to score.

(2) Dodgers manager Grady Little hangs over the rail as he watches his team play in the third inning. The Dodgers would go on to lose.

(3 -- color) Byung Hyun-Kim allowed one earned run in seven innings.

David Zalubowski/Associated Press

(3) PENNY

Box:

DODGERS at COLORADO

- Tony Jackson