LOS ANGELES -- Long before the game began, Juan Pierre headed into the video room to examine footage of Colorado starter Jason Hirsh, a rookie right-hander whom Pierre had never seen before, and he looked for weaknesses.

He found one in Hirsh's 6-foot-8 frame and his deliberate arm speed. Armed with this knowledge, Pierre waited for the correct opportunity to pick Hirsh apart.

It arrived in the third inning of a scoreless game, when, as the lead runner at second base, and Nomar Garciaparra at the plate, Pierre made a daring dash for third, beating the throw. Russell Martin followed along, stealing second to complete the double steal.

Garciaparra followed with a two-run single, and that was enough for the Dodgers. Brad Penny continued his mastery over the Rockies, turning a potentially disastrous start into a respectable one, and the bullpen tandem of Jonathan Broxton and Takashi Saito finished off a 3-0 victory before 35,852 on Wednesday at Dodger Stadium.

The Dodgers (6-3) took two out of three games from the Rockies (4-5) in their first clash of the season and took full advantage of Pierre's savvy to generate offense in the absence of shortstop Rafael Furcal, who could rejoin the club as early as Friday. Though he will slide to the No. 2 spot in the batting order when Furcal returns, Pierre found the correct hole in the lumbering Hirsh's windup.

"You don't like to be too aggressive when it's two out, but I had done the homework before the game," Pierre said. [Hirsh] held the ball longer than I thought he would. I was [hung] out to dry, but I think he was so locked into going home that before he realized it I was halfway [to third.]"

Rockies catcher Chris Iannetta realized what was going on before Hirsh did. By the time Hirsh had broken his hands and started his windup, Pierre had a lengthy jump. Martin, following Pierre's cue, went for second. Iannetta tried to cut down Pierre, but his throw wasn't in time.

"[Iannetta] told me to step off," Hirsh said. "I thought maybe a beach ball had fallen onto the field. Next thing you know, I turn around and two guys have moved."

It wasn't a beach ball, but it was the moment that bounced Hirsh from control of his first start in his native Los Angeles. Perhaps distracted, he deviated from his 80-mph changeup to 90-mph fastball pattern. He grooved the next pitch to Garciaparra, who pulled a single to left field to score Pierre standing and Martin with a headfirst dive. Martin and Pierre began the two-out rally with a pair of opposite-field singles.

"I think [Hirsh] got a little rattled there and left the pitch out over the plate for [Garciaparra]," Pierre said.

Jeff Kent followed with an RBI single to score Garciaparra, who had taken second on Hirsh's balk.

"I like that we scored our runs with two out," Garciaparra said. "That inning allowed [Penny] to continue what he was doing."

What Penny (2-0) was doing was settling down. He needed 65 pitches to labor through three innings, but pitched himself out of walking the bases loaded in the first inning. He traded a touch of velocity for an ounce of command, working comfortably in the 90- to 92-mph range while mixing in his secondary pitches the second and third time through the Colorado lineup.

Penny retired 11 consecutive batters and needed just 43 pitches to get from the fourth to the seventh. He made a diving catch of a Willy Taveras bunt attempt in the second inning and said his chest was sore on his glove side for the remainder of the game. Penny was removed from the game after hitting Iannetta with his 108th and final pitch, but Broxton and Saito combined for 2 2/3 innings of hitless relief. Saito recorded his fifth save.

Penny allowed two hits and struck out three in 6 1/3 scoreless innings. He improved to 11-2 lifetime against the Rockies and lowered his ERA to 0.68. His strikeout total (four in 13 1/3 innings) is low for a power pitcher with his history, but Penny has allowed just 12 hits, walked five and given up no home runs in his first two starts.

"When he got out of the jam with the bases loaded, I think that was a big steppingstone in getting him through the rest of the game," manager Grady Little said. "He was missing just by inches with those pitches. I talked with him and Russell both, and in a lot of cases, he might get those calls, but he wasn't getting them tonight. It wasn't like he was terribly wild. He was just missing and he knew it. He made his adjustment and went forward."

The Dodgers took their biggest step forward when Pierre showed his years by exploiting Hirsh's slower move to the plate.

"Those pitchers with big arm deliveries, it's tough for them to be quick," Pierre said. "Their body doesn't allow them to be as quick. He's actually pretty quick to first base for a big guy, so that's why a little homework had to go into that."

Hirsh (1-1) shrugged his shoulders and learned his lesson. He'll remember his first start at Dodger Stadium was the one in which he was outfoxed.

"I didn't think [Pierre] had my rhythm," Hirsh said.

But Pierre did, and the Dodgers liked the sound of that.

John Klima is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.