BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : DODGERS : Butler Sits After 117 Consecutive Starts

Of the three Dodger regulars who were not in the lineup Wednesday, only Brett Butler was not injured. In fact, he was not thrilled when coach Bill Russell asked him to miss his second start of the season after making 117 consecutive starts.

“Billy told me they wanted to give me the day off, and I said, ‘What?’ ” Butler said. “But then I thought of something Willie Mays once told me. He said taking about five days off a year is good for you, because chances are, on four of those days you wouldn’t be any good anyway.”

The Atlanta Braves are already preparing for their two showdown series with the Dodgers beginning next weekend in Atlanta.

Kent Mercker, a relief pitcher, will be moved into the starting rotation Friday in New York so Tom Glavine, the Braves’ ace, can be pushed back to Sunday. This means Glavine can start the series opener against the Dodgers Sept. 13 in Atlanta.

The Braves will also juggle the rotation so their three left-handers--Steve Avery, Charlie Leibrandt and Glavine--will face the Dodgers in a three-game series beginning Sept. 20.

Joe Torre, the St. Louis Cardinals’ manager, offered this appraisal of the National League West pennant race: “The Dodgers are the key. They have the experience, but I don’t know what that is worth. They’ve been terrible on the road, and their bullpen as been suspect, so who knows what will happen?” . . . The Dodgers’ hot spot this winter will be Caracas, Venezuela, where four players with a chance to make the 1991 roster will be playing for Dodger major league scout Phil Regan: Carlos Hernandez (catcher), Eric Karros (first baseman) and John Wetteland and Zak Shinall (pitchers). . . . Dennis Martinez of the Montreal Expos presented each of his teammates with a quarter-ounce gold Canadian Maple Leaf coin last week as a memento of his perfect game against the Dodgers. The coin contained the inscription “Dennis Martinez, El Perfect, July 28, 1991.” His teammates gave him a standing ovation.