BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : DODGERS : Loss of Griffin Could Prove Costly

The Dodgers suffered what could be a serious setback when Alfredo Griffin limped into the visiting clubhouse at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium Tuesday afternoon.

His sprained right knee, which he injured sliding into third base in the second inning Sunday, had not improved in two days. He is out of the lineup indefinitely.

“It’s not good,” Griffin said, wincing as he moved the knee while sitting on a clubhouse trunk. “Sometimes it’s hard to walk.”

Although Griffin has made quick comebacks from a back problem and a fractured cheekbone, Dodger trainers would not speculate on this injury. He was examined by a San Diego Padre doctor just before Tuesday’s game, and is being listed as day to day.

“Sometimes these things can linger, but then sometimes they don’t,” therapist Pat Screnar said. “Hopefully there’s nothing wrong with the knee.”

After struggling early this season, Griffin had become one of the Dodgers’ stabilizing factors during the pennant race. Some players have even called him the most important member of the team in the past month.

Besides batting .258 in his past 21 games, raising his average to .243, Griffin had committed only two errors in his past 29 games.

“I was feeling so good, and when I feel good, I play good,” Griffin said. “I don’t know what is happening now.”

That the Dodgers would use Lenny Harris at short instead of Jose Offerman is yet another testament to the struggles of the once-heralded rookie. Offerman has not started a game since Griffin returned from the disabled list and has appeared in only seven games since then, always as a late-inning defensive replacement.

The Dodgers are arranging for left-hander Steve Wilson to play winter ball in either Venezuela or Puerto Rico in hopes that he can work on his curveball and become a candidate for the stopper role next spring. . . . The Dodgers’ tentative rotation for this weekend against San Francisco in Dodger Stadium is Tim Belcher on Friday, followed by Orel Hershiser and Ramon Martinez. . . . Both Belcher (pulled groin) and Martinez (strained hip) said their injuries would not prevent them from pitching.