BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : DODGERS : Offerman Gets Lecture After Errors

Jose Offerman was lectured on the bench by Dodger Vice President Ralph Avila after committing his second error in two days, misplaying a slow grounder.

Offerman’s error was one of two by the Dodgers in a 6-2 exhibition loss to the Kansas City Royals Monday.

“The son of a gun was lazy, and I told him he was lazy,” Avila said. “It was a boring game. He was back on his heels.

“But the good thing was, he knew what he did wrong. He told me before I could even get on him.”

Although he has been impressive during much of spring training, Offerman occasionally shows signs of bad habits, with three errors in 15 games. He is batting .256.

“He is still young. He will still need to be reminded of things,” Avila said. “But don’t worry, Joey Amalfitano will stay on him.”

Infielder Todd Benzinger skipped batting practice and all running for the first time since his left calf began bothering him a couple of weeks ago.

Benzinger “guarantees” he will be ready opening day, but he has not played in a game in a week.

“It’s sore when I run, and I’m not too sure about it when I hit,” Benzinger said. “I finally just had to shut it down completely for a couple of days. I think it will get better with rest. If the season started today, it’s a pain I could play with.”

Benzinger wonders if the injury is related to off-season arthroscopic surgery on his right knee for the removal of a cyst. By favoring the knee this spring, Benzinger might have put stress on the calf.

Relief pitcher Roger McDowell struck out two in two perfect innings. His new knuckle-curveball is working well and has helped him to a 1.80 ERA in seven appearances. . . . The Dodgers will play the New York Mets on ESPN tonight at 4:35 p.m (PST). . . . Tom Lasorda was ordered off the field by President Peter O’Malley after pitching an hour of batting practice. . . . Jay Howell pitched batting practice for 20 minutes but despite scouts’ claims that his fastball looked good, he remains doubtful for opening day. The Dodgers were resting easier after Kip Gross, who will take Howell’s spot in the bullpen, pitched five scoreless innings in a B game on Saturday.