PAINFUL WIN FOR PENNY BAD BACK FORCES HIM TO LEAVE AFTER FIFTH DODGERS 6, S.F. 1.

Byline: TONY JACKSON  Staff Writer

SAN FRANCISCO -- Hours after their already-crowded disabled list swelled to eight players with the addition of third baseman Bill Mueller, the Dodgers got more bad news Friday night.

That it came in the midst of a convincing, 6-1 win over the hated San Francisco Giants made it less of a shock, but not less of a concern.

Right-hander Brad Penny experienced stiffness on the left side of his lower back for the second consecutive start. Unlike last Saturday, when it hit him in the middle innings of a shaky but ultimately productive outing against Milwaukee, this time he first felt it warming up in the bullpen before the game.

It grew more severe with each subsequent inning until, finally, Penny had to be lifted for a pinch hitter in the top of the sixth.

The good news was that Penny lasted that long, enough to get credit for the win after the Dodgers staked him to an early, four-run lead, and was remarkably effective considering the degree of pain he was in. He pitched five shutout innings, allowing only two hits with three walks and staged enough daring escapes to strand six Giants runners.

The bad news is that no one seems to know what is causing the spasms, how long they will last or what they mean for Penny's next scheduled start, Wednesday at Colorado.

``We'll just have to wait and see,'' pitching coach Rick Honeycutt said. ``It was (on the same side as) his landing leg, and I think that might have added to it with all the pounding. It stiffened up on him in the middle part of his last outing, too. (Trainer) Stan (Johnston) tells me it's more of a muscular thing.

``Anybody who has ever had a bad back knows how that feels.''

Giants left fielder Barry Bonds, meanwhile, remained one home run behind Babe Ruth for second place on the all-time career list. He is chasing the Bambino while being chased himself by a World Series-sized media contingent. That and the presence of the rival Dodgers prompted a sellout crowd of 42,885, the largest of the season at AT&T Park.

After Penny walked him intentionally with a man on second and two outs in the first inning, Bonds went 0 for 3. He popped out to short against Penny in the third and flied to right against Joe Beimel in the sixth.

Facing Beimel again with Mark Sweeney on first and none out in the eight, Bonds hit a high pop to second baseman Jeff Kent, whose rivalry with Bonds began long before Kent signed with the Dodgers. Bonds quickly gave up on the ball and stopped running, which could have cost him greatly when Kent -- whether intentionally or unintentionally -- dropped the ball. Kent picked it up and threw to second to force Sweeney, and Rafael Furcal's relay throw to first almost beat Bonds, who recovered quickly enough to actually run to first base.

After Penny's early exit, the much-maligned Dodgers bullpen stood tall for once. Or at least Beimel and Takashi Saito did, limiting the Giants to a run on two hits over the final four innings and closing out the Dodgers' sixth win in their past seven games.

``(Beimel) was outstanding,'' Dodgers manager Grady Little said of the left-hander, who gave up Pedro Feliz's solo homer and nothing else in a 3 2/3-inning stint. ``He's a strike thrower. It was the difference in the game, what he gave us. That was what we needed.''

The fourth-place Dodgers (18-18) moved within two games of the National League West lead, now shared by Colorado and surging San Diego.

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Photo:

(color) The Giants' Barry Bonds tosses his bat after being intentionally walked by Brad Penny in the first inning.

Associated Press

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DODGERS AT SAN FRANCISCO

- Tony Jackson