Dravecky Breaks Left Arm in Game Against Montreal

Dave Dravecky on Tuesday night fractured his pitching arm, the one on which he had cancer surgery 10 months ago, and probably will be out for the season.

The 33-year-old San Francisco Giant pitcher was injured while pitching in his second major league start since a cancerous tumor was removed from his left arm. He fell to the mound in the sixth inning and was taken off the field on a stretcher. He was conscious and holding his arm as he left.

Although Dravecky is expected to be out for the season, Expos’ physician Robert Broderick said “the odds are in his favor that he’ll pitch again.”

“There is very little damage involving the muscles,” said Broderick, who did not speculate when Dravecky would be able to pitch.

The Giants said Dravecky had sustained a fracture to the humerus bone, the bone between the elbow and shoulder. It is the same bone that doctors froze when they performed cancer surgery Oct. 7, 1988.

Dravecky was pitching to Tim Raines when the injury occurred. Dravecky’s pitch was wild, and he suddenly fell to the ground.

“It was a sharp, painful pop,” Dravecky told trainers. “It was the strangest experience I’ve ever felt.”

Said Manager Roger Craig: “When he went down he said, ‘It’s broke! It’s broke!’ When I first saw him go down, I knew it was something serious. He’s a courageous man. I’ve been in this game a long time, and I’ve seen a lot of things, but I’ve never seen nothing like this.”

To Montreal’s Hubie Brooks, “it sounded like a firecracker.”

“I’ve never seen anything like it and I hope I never see anything like it again,” the Expo right fielder said.

Trainers and teammates rushed to the mound and surrounded Dravecky, who was sitting up on a stretcher as he was taken off.

Dravecky, who gave up two runs, four hits and three walks, ended up getting the victory for the Giants, who defeated the Montreal Expos, 3-2.

Dravecky took a three-hitter and 3-0 lead into the sixth. Damaso Garcia led off with a home run and Andres Galarraga was hit by a pitch before Dravecky was hurt.

“The last thing he said was, ‘Win this game, I want this win,’ ” Craig said.

Dravecky will be sidelined for six to eight weeks, the team said. Because of rehabilitation, Dravecky will almost certainly not be able to pitch again this season.

Dravecky spent Tuesday night at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Montreal, where he was examined by Broderick. He was to return to San Francisco this morning and be examined by Giants’ doctors.

Dravecky won his first start for the Giants, pitching into the eighth inning last Thursday in beating the Cincinnati Reds.

He had begun his comeback with two strong games in Class A and had pitched for the Giants’ triple-A team in Phoenix before rejoining San Francisco.