Penny knows place, and it’s OK

PORT ST. LUCIE, FLA. —  All of Brad Penny’s high hard ones came on the field Saturday.

After walking three and hitting a batter in two scoreless innings of a 5-2 victory over the New York Mets, Penny said he had no problem with being the No. 4 starter and missing out on pitching the season opener and home opener.

Manager Grady Little “is great about asking, and I told him that as far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t matter if I’m number two, three, four or five,” Penny said. “Derek Lowe deserves to start opening day and the home opener isn’t that important to me.”

Penny realizes the early-season rotation is based primarily on matchups. He will face the San Francisco Giants and Colorado Rockies in his first two starts -- he is a combined 9-2 against them the last three years -- while missing the Milwaukee Brewers, who have knocked him around for 18 hits in 11 2/3 innings since 2004.

The most encouraging part of Penny’s two-inning tightrope act at Tradition Field was how he felt afterward. He dropped about five pounds during the off-season and has substantially less body fat.

“I wasn’t tired at all,” he said. “Last year sometimes I felt like I was carrying more fat than muscle. I ate healthy during the off-season and didn’t let myself get out of shape.”

Over the next four days the Dodgers starters will continue to adhere to the order in which they are scheduled to begin the regular season, with Lowe followed by Randy Wolf, Jason Schmidt and Penny. They will stretch out to three innings during their third starts and get a fourth day off between outings.

Delivery options

Paul Lo Duca noticed even before he stepped into the batter’s box and asked Dodgers catcher Russell Martin about it.

Hong-Chih Kuo, the left-hander who baffled the Mets in a key game last season, pitched from the windup Saturday, tossing two scoreless innings. Last season he went only from the stretch position, even with no runners on base.

Pitching coach Rick Honeycutt suggested the change after last season and Kuo spent the off-season reacquainting himself with it. He used a windup until his second elbow ligament replacement surgery in 2003, then went exclusively from the stretch mainly because he became a reliever.

“It’s a different feel, but I think my velocity is the same as from the stretch,” Kuo said.

Third and long

Two days after Wilson Betemit made two errors at third base, top prospect Andy La Roche did the same.

The position is basically Betemit’s to lose because the Dodgers believe La Roche could benefit from more time at triple A. But somebody has to start playing some defense.

“There is just a shadow over that position so far,” Little said. “We have to start getting rid of that cloud.”

La Roche did have two hits and a walk, including a single against Mets closer Billy Wagner.

“I followed the Houston Astros growing up and he was one of my favorite players,” La Roche said of Wagner. “It was exciting going against him.”

No one is perfect

Outfielder Larry Bigbie singled with the bases loaded in the seventh inning to drive in the first Dodgers run, but his perfect spring ended when he drove in the go-ahead run in the ninth on a fielder’s choice, making him five for six.... The Dodgers have already passed two million tickets sold for the 2007 season, the fastest they have reached that mark. More than 4,000 fans turned out to buy tickets at Dodger Stadium on Saturday and opening day sold out in 15 minutes.... Little turned 57.

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steve.henson@latimes.com