Jack Dempsey / AP

Dodgers manager Grady Little leads Brad Penny off the field after the pitcher injured himself beating out an infield single against the Rockies on Thursday.

updated 12:25 a.m. ET July 27, 2007

DENVER - Brad Penny just wanted a minute to catch his breath. The next thing he knew he was being escorted out of the game by trainers.

“I could’ve stayed in,” Penny said after the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 5-4 win over the Colorado Rockies on Thursday night. “I’m like, ’I’m fine.’ They’re like, ’No.”’

Manager Grady Little held his breath after Penny hurt himself in the seventh inning as he beat out an infield single. Penny hunched over after he reached first base and the trainers sprinted out to examine him.

Turns out it was only an abdominal cramp. But Los Angeles didn’t want to take any chances. Not with their ace.

“I was hoping it wasn’t too bad,” Little said. “Anytime you see someone fold over like that, it’s scary.”

Especially after watching Derek Lowe leave the game Wednesday with a groin injury.

The good news kept coming for Little. After the game, Lowe said he wasn’t in much pain and thought he might be in line to make his next start.

“I’m doing good, doing good,” said Lowe, who spent nearly four hours getting an MRI exam Thursday afternoon as the equipment broke down. “I can’t see it lingering on for a long time.”

When Lowe saw Penny doubled over down the first-base line, one thought instantly popped into his mind.

“That we’re not very good athletes,” Lowe said with a grin.

Penny blamed the altitude.

“I’ve never really had a cramp like that in a game,” he said.

Penny (13-1) joined Josh Beckett of Boston, Cleveland’s Fausto Carmona and C.C. Sabathia and Carlos Zambrano of the Chicago Cubs for the major league lead in wins with 13. He also became the first Los Angeles pitcher to begin a season 13-1 since Phil Regan went 14-1 in 1966.

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Yet he was disappointed about leaving the game early.

“I was fine,” said Penny, who’s now 12-0 this season against the National League. “It was a little cramp.”

Takashi Saito pitched the ninth for his 26th save in 29 chances, striking out Matt Holliday with a runner on to end the game. Saito had missed the previous seven games because of a sore right shoulder.

“We miss him when he’s gone. We miss him terribly,” Little said. “It affects us a lot. He looked good out there.”

The Rockies continue to struggle against Los Angeles. The team is 91-128 all-time against the Dodgers, including 2-4 this season. With the loss, Colorado fell 5½ games behind Los Angeles in the NL West.

“We have to beat them,” Holliday said. “They are in first place and we have to beat them when we play them.”

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