PENNY-WISE, IT'S ANOTHER VICTORY RETIRES 17 CONSECUTIVE AS DODGERS CRUISE DODGERS 7, CIN. 3.

Byline: TONY JACKSON 

Staff Writer

Like most veteran major-leaguers, Luis Gonzalez knows what a truly dominating pitcher looks like from home plate.

But Gonzalez is lucky enough to also know what one looks like from left field, where he spent eight seasons in Arizona observing the work of Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling, two pitchers who were so good they rarely allowed balls to be hit in Gonzalez's direction, so he often could simply stand and admire their artistry.

After Saturday night's game, in which he and the Dodgers cruised to a 7-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds in front of 55,776 at Dodger Stadium, Gonzalez was sure he had experienced a flashback of sorts.

Brad Penny might not have Johnson's mantel full of Cy Young Awards, and he might not have Schilling's blogging skills. But for now, and for the past few weeks, he has been every bit as dominating as that dynamic duo was in their heyday.

Or at least that's what Gonzalez says.

"Right now, the way he is pitching, he is definitely one of the toughest in the National League, if not all of baseball," Gonzalez said. "When I was with Arizona, and Randy or Curt took the mound, the team just seemed to have a lot of confidence. First of all, the other team knew coming in that they were going to have a tough day. It's a lot of fun to play behind a guy like that, especially when you get some runs on the board, because his confidence level goes that much higher. (Penny) just took over after that, and it was his game.

"In the past, you didn't see him going deep into games. But now, it's almost like he picks up adrenaline going into the sixth or seventh innings and gets stronger late in the ballgame."

For a brief stretch of the first inning, Penny looked vaguely human, giving up a one-out double to Brandon Phillips and an RBI single by Ken Griffey Jr. that briefly put the Reds ahead 1-0 and a walk. But after Alex Gonzalez grounded into a force play, Adam Dunn worked Penny for a nine-pitch at-bat that seemed to lean more in Dunn's favor with each foul ball before the big left fielder ultimately popped up, letting Penny off the only hook the Reds would come close to getting him onto.

With that, Penny was two batters into a stretch in which he would retire 17 consecutive batters, during which the formerly punchless Dodgers would string together a two-out, five-run rally in the fourth and during which Penny would leave no doubt that he has turned the corner on a career that has always been long on potential but at times has been short on results.

"The biggest difference this year is he is pitching a lot more than just trying to power the ball," Dodgers manager Grady Little said. "It has made a world of difference for him."

Looking back, Penny's results aren't all that much better than they were this time a year ago, when he went 10-2 in the first half and became the National League's All-Star starter. But he faded badly down the stretch, something the Dodgers -- who stretched their lead over second-place Arizona in the NL West to a season-high 21/2 games -- are confident their newly minted staff ace can avoid now that he is a more refined, more mature pitcher.

"I'm more confident now," Penny said. "But I don't want to get too high or too low, because it's a long season. My curveball wasn't good last year, but it is good this year."

Penny became the first Dodgers starter to win his first five decisions since Kazuhisa Ishii won his first six in 2002.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers' offense finally showed a heartbeat in the fourth inning, when Penny worked Reds starter Kyle Lohse (1-4) for a five-pitch walk with two outs and the bases loaded, putting the Dodgers in front 2-1.

That not only foiled the Reds' strategy of intentionally walking Andy LaRoche to get to Penny, but also delivered just the first blow in what became exactly the kind of inning the slumping Dodgers had been waiting for.

By the time Lohse finally got out of it, he had thrown 41 pitches to the uncharacteristically patient Dodgers, which was 11 more than he had thrown in the three previous innings combined.

The onslaught was more fizz than pop, including a bases-loaded, infield single by Rafael Furcal, a blooper by Juan Pierre that fell between two fielders and drove in two more runs, and a perfectly executed hit-and-run single by Nomar Garciaparra with Pierre breaking off first to score Furcal and give the Dodgers a 6-1 lead.

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CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) Brad Penny gave up one run on four hits in 6 1/3 innings while walking one and striking out four. His ERA is a major-league best 1.39.

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

(2) Dodgers first baseman Nomar Garciaparra went 2 for 5 with an RBI and is now 5 for 7 in the series.

Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images

Box:

DODGERS vs. CINCINNATI

- Tony Jackson