BASEBALL : DAILY REPORT : DODGERS : McDowell Injures Knee Ligament

Roger McDowell learned Wednesday that he pitched the fateful 10th inning against the Cincinnati Reds Tuesday night with a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee. He suffered the injury after twisting the knee on a throw to first base on Bill Doran’s leadoff grounder.

Although a pitcher can return from such an injury within a couple of days, as Tim Crews did earlier this year, it can also require a stay on the disabled list.

Dr. Frank Jobe said he wants McDowell to undergo another examination today before the team doctors could make a recommendation.

“Right now it’s day to day, but we’d like to see it one more time,” Jobe said.

Said McDowell, who was limping Wednesday: “I felt the knee pop, so I knew something was wrong.”

If McDowell is disabled, a candidate to replace him would be John Wetteland, a converted reliever who has 15 saves at Albuquerque.

Lenny Harris said he was merely protecting teammate Juan Samuel when he chided the Cincinnati Reds’ Glenn Braggs for sliding hard into Samuel Tuesday night. When Braggs made a move toward Harris, benches cleared and a brawl nearly ensued.

“I’ve got no problem with people playing hard, I just don’t want anybody to get hurt,” Harris said. “I stand up for my teammates, just like I would stand up for Glenn Braggs if he were my teammate.”

Harris said he plans on speaking with Braggs to clear up any differences.

Jim Gott and Kevin Gross go through an unusual ritual before some home games. They practice Hopkido, a form of Korean karate, in an auxiliary clubhouse.

Les Connard, a local expert, or champion Tony Lee joins the players to help them build concentration and a sense of inner strength.

“It really helps us in relation to how we view the hitters,” said Gott, who works on Hopkido throughout the year. “It gives us things we can use on the mound.”

Darryl Strawberry is nursing a sore back, which forced him out of the lineup last Sunday in San Francisco. But he says that unless the back worsens, he will not miss another game because of it. “This is the time of the year when you have to play with any kind of pain,” Strawberry said. . . . Jeff Hamilton is scheduled to return home after reporting little progress in his left knee during several rehabilitation starts at Albuquerque.

Pedro Martinez, brother of the Dodgers’ Ramon Martinez, became pro baseball’s first 17-game winner Wednesday with a 4-0 victory for triple-A Albuquerque over Phoenix. Martinez was 8-0 at Class-A Bakersfield, 7-5 for double-A San Antonio, and is 2-1 for Albuquerque.