Sands hits his first home run

After being rushed up from the minor leagues a month ago to help the Dodgers’ offense, Jerry Sands is gradually finding his stride at the plate.

But it wasn’t until Saturday that the right-handed batter hit his first major league home run.

Sands said the lack of a home run hadn’t frustrated him but acknowledged it had weighed on his mind and he was glad to get the first one behind him.

“You could say it was something off my back, more of a milestone for me,” he said after belting a 1-0 pitch from left-hander Mark Buehrle into the left-field stands at U.S. Cellular Field, where the Dodgers lost to the Chicago White Sox, 9-2.

“It was good to get one; wish it could have come in a win,” said Sands, a 23-year-old North Carolina native.

The home-run ball was returned to Sands, so “it’s going to be a good memory for me,” he said.

Sands overall was batting .205 but he has nine doubles so far this season.

Uribe injury

Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly said an MRI exam Saturday found that infielder Juan Uribe suffered a “mild strain” of his left hip flexor muscle, adding to the Dodgers’ list of injured infielders.

Uribe was hurt in Friday night’s game against the White Sox while making a catch of Alex Rios’ pop fly. Uribe left the game after the sixth inning.

“We’re going to make a decision [Sunday] on where we go” in terms of whether Uribe might have to be put on the disabled list, Mattingly said.

Shortstop Rafael Furcal (broken left thumb) and third baseman Casey Blake (left elbow surgery) already are on the disabled list, though the Dodgers hope Furcal can return to the lineup as early as Sunday and that Blake might be able to return in the next week or so.

Furcal was back in the Dodgers’ clubhouse Saturday after a rehabilitation stint in the minor leagues. He slightly injured his left knee while sliding in a game last Tuesday that left “a little bruise” but was not serious, Furcal said.

“Everything is fine,” he said, but Furcal still went through after-game drills Saturday to make sure he was ready “because l don’t want to come back and then in the middle of the game and get [taken] out because I couldn’t do it.”

Mattingly was asked whether the Dodgers would be quick to put Uribe on the disabled list to get a healthier player on the active roster. “Yeah, makes sense,” Mattingly said.

“You can kind of get away with it here” at an American League park because the Dodgers can use the designed hitter, “but once we get back in the National League you just can’t do it,” Mattingly said.

Aaron Miles, another utility infielder and switch hitter, has a slight left rib-cage muscle pull, and that has somewhat limited his range, Mattingly said. Uribe mainly has played third base during Blake’s absence, but he was playing second base Friday with Miles resting.

And finally

The only Dodger with more than one hit Saturday was 38-year-old Juan Castro, the recent call-up from triple-A Albuquerque who also drove in the go-ahead run in the Dodgers’ win Friday night over the White Sox. Castro singled twice.

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james.peltz@latimes.com