Dodgers thrive on the home front

Whether it’s the cooking, the chance to sleep in their own beds or just the fact they just look better in white, there’s no doubt the Dodgers are more comfortable at home.

For proof you need look no further than Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium, where the team, less than 15 hours removed from a five-game trip in which they were held to one run four times, pounded starter Dan Haren for six runs en route to an 8-3 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Dodgers’ early-season travails have truly been a tale of two cities. The best of times have come at home, where the Dodgers are 6-4, averaging more than 5 1/2 runs per game and batting .317. But it’s been the worst of times on the road, where they’re 3-8, scoring just more than three runs per game and hitting nearly 100 points lower.

Seven times the Dodgers have collected 10 hits or more in a home game, including Wednesday, when they got 13. They’ve done that only twice on the road.

“There’s no question there are certain teams that are more comfortable at home,” Manager Joe Torre said. “Home should be an advantage for you.”

It certainly was on this homecoming night as the Dodgers, dominated by Haren two weeks ago in Arizona, jumped on the right-hander starting with the second pitch, which Rafael Furcal lined to center field for a single. After a pair of steals, Furcal scored on Nomar Garciaparra’s two-out, two-strike single, ending Haren’s streak of scoreless innings at 10 in a row.

Then after a walk to Russell Martin, James Loney singled on a two-strike pitch to drive in Garciaparra.

The Dodgers padded their lead in the third inning with another two-out, full-count single by Loney, then chased Haren (3-1) in the fifth on a two-out run-scoring single by Matt Kemp. When Chin-lung Hu followed with a two-run, two-strike single against Juan Cruz, the Dodgers had a 6-1 lead.

As it turned out, Dodgers starter Derek Lowe (2-1) didn’t need the extra support, holding the Diamondbacks, who began the game second in the majors in runs scored, to a solo homer by Stephen Drew in a five-inning, 67-pitch outing.

“All year long we’ve been looking for that win and say, ‘OK, here we go,’ ” Lowe said. “Hopefully, against a guy like that, we can get some momentum going and go in the right direction.”

Lowe was removed for precautionary reasons after complaining of a tight elbow, but even that proved a stroke of good fortune for the Dodgers, who were able to give their bullpen some much-needed work. Coming into the homestand, only three managers in the National League had gotten fewer innings (65 2/3 ) out of their bullpen than Torre, who used four relievers Wednesday.

Two of them, Chan Ho Park and Jonathan Broxton, gave up runs, allowing the Diamondbacks to put the tying run on base in the eighth inning.

The Dodgers answered with two eighth-inning runs on a two-out error by right fielder Justin Upton.

“We expect to be good,” said Loney, one of five Dodgers with two hits. “We just have to keep on fighting.”

As to why the fight seems easier at home, however, Loney had little to offer.

“I don’t know what it is,” he said with a smile. “Maybe they put something in our food.”

--

kevin.baxter@latimes.com