(MCT) LOS ANGELES — Derek Lowe knows this routine all too well.
Pitch a good game, get little or no run support, and lose.
Lowe held the Colorado Rockies to two runs and five hits in seven innings Wednesday night. For most pitchers, that would have been good enough to pick up a victory. For Lowe, it was worth his 14th loss of the season.
The Rockies made the runs stand up and beat the Dodgers, 2-0, at Dodger Stadium for their 10th consecutive victory.
The Rockies moved to two games of first-place Arizona in the National League West standings and remained one game behind San Diego in the wild-card race.
The only glitches in Lowe's performance came in the third inning when he gave up run-scoring singles to Kazuo Matsui and Matt Holliday. He retired the final 13 batters he faced after Holliday's hit.
"Derek was outstanding," Dodgers manager Grady Little said. "I thought he pitched one of his better games he's pitched all season. The runs all came on ground-ball hits in the one inning. Outside of that, he had very little trouble throughout the game."
Lowe will end the season with a 12-14 record. In 10 of his losses, the Dodgers have scored three or fewer runs.
"There weren't really a lot of opportunities to score," Lowe said. "Josh Fogg pitched a good game.
All and all you've got to be honest with yourself, and 12-14 is not really that impressive. It really wasn't too productive of a year."
Fogg held the Dodgers to five hits through 72/3 innings. His only troublesome inning was self-induced, as he walked the bases full with two outs in the seventh. He escaped the jam by striking out Andre Ethier on four pitches.
The Dodgers created a stir in the ninth when pinch-hitters Luis Gonzalez and Olmedo Saenz reached on infield singles, but Juan Pierre hit into a game-ending force play.
SEEKING A COMEBACK
The Dodgers haven't decided if they will pick up the option on Mike Lieberthal's contract for next season but the veteran catcher said this week that he's not ready to walk away from the game.
That contradicts comments made by Lieberthal earlier this season when he said he would retire if his option was not picked up. He would like to know what the Dodgers are going to do, though.
"I'm not going to retire," Lieberthal said. "I feel like I can keep playing. I've asked so many people and everybody thinks, from players on this team to family and friends; they all feel that I should keep playing.
"Going into the offseason, I would hope they'd pick it up, but who knows what they'll do. After the World Series, you just kind of look and see what options you have out there, if they don't pick it up. You just have to weigh your options and go from there."
Lieberthal earned $1.25 million this season, an amount that will increase to $1.4 million if he remains with the team in 2008. It's a good bet that the Dodgers will retain his services because it is somewhat of a bargain price for a backup catcher, and there is no one in the minors who appears ready to take on the role.
The 13-year veteran signed with the Dodgers knowing that he would be playing behind Russell Martin but figured he would play in more. He has started just in 17 games.
"The way he plays, he's bound to get hurt sometime, even if it's for a week or two," Lieberthal said of Martin. "If that happened, then we wouldn't be talking about the number of games I've played this year."
MARTIN WINS AWARD
Martin was selected as the winner of the second annual Roy Campanella Award, which goes to the Dodgers player who exemplifies the spirit and leadership of the late catcher.
The Dodgers players voted Martin the recipient. Rafael Furcal won the inaugural Roy Campanella Award, last season.