ATLANTA -- Brad Penny throws a fastball, curve and splitter, but he added to his repertoire Monday by throwing a fit when lifted two outs shy of qualifying for a win.

The varying explanations for what followed created tension and concern for a team that had just completed a 12-5 victory, powered by a three-run homer and career-high five RBIs from Ramon Martinez, who was filling in for injured second baseman Jeff Kent.

As for injuries, Penny said he's pitching with one, and it's not just the stiff back discussed publicly. He said his throwing shoulder began hurting in the fifth and final inning of his start six days earlier against Colorado and caused an obvious drop in his velocity throughout Monday's appearance.

Penny's anger stemmed from his feeling that, if he was willing to pitch through the pain, he should have been allowed to pitch to a decision, even though he had allowed six consecutive hits at the time he departed.

"My shoulder was hurting," said Penny. "It's killing me last game, they know it's killing me this game, I'm out there pitching hurt, and the first jam I get into all year and I don't get a chance to get out of it. We still had a three-run lead."

Penny entered that fifth inning with a seven-run lead because the Dodgers scored seven runs over the first two innings. They didn't hit a lot of balls hard, but put them in play, ran the bases aggressively and let the Braves mess things up defensively. Atlanta committed three throwing errors in the first inning alone and allowed a J.D. Drew popup to fall for a double that led to another run.

The Dodgers finished with 15 hits, including three each for Kenny Lofton and Martinez. Rookie Matt Kemp, after his three-strikeout debut Sunday, went 2-for-3 with three runs scored, two RBIs and a stolen base.

Martinez, making only his sixth start of the season, is batting .354 in very limited action.

"That's the story of my life," he said. "I have to stay ready for when Grady needs me."

While Martinez provided offensive production in Kent's absence, the club now has reason for concern about Penny, who said the staff was aware of his new ailment because he was asked to pitch a sixth inning in his previous start and said he couldn't. He also did not throw a bullpen session between starts to rest his shoulder. He implied the discomfort and resulting velocity loss was the reason he allowed six consecutive hits and four runs in the fifth inning Monday.

The runs and hits were the reason manager Grady Little motioned to the bullpen for Joe Beimel and headed for the mound. Clearly agitated, Penny gave Little the ball and told him what he thought about being lifted, especially with Adam LaRoche, who is 0-for-7 against Penny, coming to the plate.

Penny marched toward the dugout, unloaded a few words about being removed to nobody in particular and television cameras caught him taking a bat to a plastic cooler.

Beimel ended the inning with one pitch, inducing a double-play grounder from LaRoche. Beimel, Jonathan Broxton and Danys Baez held the Braves scoreless over the final 4 2/3 innings.

"I would have liked to see Brad get that win," said Beimel, who got it instead after 1 2/3 scoreless innings. "My job is to come in and hold leads, and if somebody gets in trouble, get them out of it."

There wasn't much of a clubhouse celebration after the game. Little showed why he is known for being a player's manager by withholding from the media any criticism of Penny.

"He's a competitor, and you can't fault anyone for that," said Little. "It's something to be addressed, but not today. The guy is a competitor and I'm the manager making a move to win the game. I felt the move was the difference in the game."

Little acknowledged Penny's velocity loss, but said nothing about the shoulder. Penny said enough.

"It just hurts, that's all," Penny said. "That's probably the slowest I've thrown in my whole career. They wanted me to go back out there [last week]. I said I couldn't. I'll just get treatment. I don't think it's anything real serious. Right now, I don't have velocity. We'll see how I feel tomorrow."

Prior to Monday, Penny had a 2.31 ERA (second in the league) and had not allowed more than three runs in any of 10 starts, even though he had fought through lower back stiffness in each of the three preceding outings. Penny did not link pitching with back discomfort to the shoulder soreness.

Pitching coach Rick Honeycutt said the staff knew Penny wasn't at full strength, but whether or not he pitches is up to the pitcher.

"He told me his arm didn't feel 100 percent, but part of the responsibility of a pitcher is, he's got to be honest with us -- can you go or not go?" said Honeycutt. "I don't know of an outing where we put him in danger. We've left it to his discretion. His stuff was not up to normal from the very start today. He didn't have his normal fastball, but there've been other outings where it would come or he would add to it."

Honeycutt, who pitched 21 seasons in the Major Leagues, was not as forgiving of Penny's display as his manager was.

"The behavior, not something we condone, it's not a professional way to handle it, by any means," Honeycutt said. "I'm sure when cooler heads prevail, we'll have a meeting behind closed doors. I don't mind a guy ticked off because he comes out of a game, especially in the fifth inning. To have a tirade over it, that's a different issue."