Dodgers 11, Padres 1 … and a Nomar update

Garciaparra went 0 for 3 with a walk and played nine innings at 3B (we had been led to believe he would DH) in Las Vegas’ 4-3 win at Sacramento. The fact he played third base might mean he comes back a day or two earlier. I had speculated he would return on Friday night at Atlanta, the first game of a five-game road trip. … The bats finally broke out tonight. You can read all about that in tomorrow’s paper. What I barely touch on in tomorrow’s paper is a really strong performance tonight by Derek Lowe, who allowed a run on four hits over eight innings, with three of those four hits coming in the first and second innings. He also retired 15 batters in a row over one stretch. … Andre Ethier fell a triple shy of the cycle, going 3 for 5 with two RBI and three runs scored. … Blake DeWitt went 2 for 5 with a pair of doubles, the first of which drove in two runs in the third inning and pushed the Dodgers’ lead from 2-1 to 4-1. Torre said after the game it was probably the biggest hit of the game. DeWitt is also playing airtight defense at third, but he is hitting .250, and the sad reality is that he’ll probably head to Vegas as soon as Nomar declares himself ready to return. … Dodgers improve to 5-6 and move into third place, still four behind the Snakes. Arizona has won eight in a row.