Davis Is Injured in Dodger Loss : Baseball: Outfielder suffers strained ligaments in his left shoulder as the Pirates win, 6-4.

Dodger fortunes took another bad turn Friday.

Hours after Darryl Strawberry checked out of the hospital with a bad back that isn’t getting much better, his buddy Eric Davis prepared to check in.

Davis suffered strained ligaments in his left shoulder after making a spectacular catch of a drive by Steve Buechele during the sixth inning.

The Dodgers could afford to lose another game. In fact, they did as pitcher Randy Tomlin gave up one run in 6 1/3 innings of Pittsburgh’s 6-4 victory before 34,902 at Dodger Stadium.

The Dodgers can’t afford to lose another outfielder, especially one of Davis’ caliber.

But today, they will play the X-ray waiting game to see how long they will be without the other bookend to their previously star-studded outfield.

Frank Jobe, the Dodger team physician, was calling Davis’ injury a minor sprain. Actually, it’s a slight separation.

“Technically, that’s correct,” Jobe said. “But I don’t like to use that.”

Jobe said the bones did not come apart in Davis’ shoulder, which he said was an encouraging sign.

“But I really can’t tell tonight,” Jobe said. “We’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see how bad it is.”

The Dodgers don’t have many more backup plans. Davis was playing right field Friday night in place of Strawberry.

“It’s crazy with all the injuries,” Manager Tom Lasorda said. “I think we’re jinxed.”

Davis, who earlier had committed an error in right and made a base-running blunder, made up for those mistakes with his diving catch. But he paid the price. Dodgers rolled out of the dugout to aid their fallen outfielder. Davis favored his left shoulder immediately after the catch; he walked from the field with his left arm tucked inside his shirt.

“That was one of the finest catches I’ve ever seen,” Lasorda said. “But it just seems like it’s one thing after another.”

To the Dodgers, it was merely another blow to a team that fell seven games under .500 and faces four doubleheaders in July.

The Dodgers turned Friday to their ace, Tom Candiotti, who leads the staff with four victories. But he left the game for a pinch-hitter during the fifth inning, having given up four earned runs on seven hits.

The Dodgers trailed by 6-1 in the ninth when they mounted a rally against reliever Stan Belinda. With two runners on and two out, pinch-hitter Stan Javier hit a three-run home run to right to cut the lead to 6-4.

Brett Butler then scratched out his third hit of the game to bring the tying run to the plate, Mike Sharperson.

But Sharperson grounded out to second to end the game, and all thoughts turned to Davis.

“It’s tough,” Butler said of Davis’ injury. “We’re bits and pieces, trying to put things together. It’s definitely a blow to us. We hope he can get back soon.”

Pittsburgh scored a run in the first and added three more in the fourth to make it 4-0, the key hits being a two-run single by Buechele and an RBI-single by Jose Lind.

The Dodgers had a scoring chance in the fourth inning with a walk, but he was eliminated as part of a strange double play when he forgot to touch second base on his way back to first after Todd Benzinger flied out to right.

The Dodgers had a chance for a big inning in the sixth, but came away with only one run. With two out, pinch-hitter Eric Karros doubled to left. Butler then beat out a broken-bat grounder to short. Sharperson’s double to right score Karros and moved Butler to third.

But Kal Daniels grounded out to end the rally.

Tomlin’s pitching performance for the Pirates could not have been more timely. Pittsburgh had lost six consecutive games entering the weekend series and the first three games on its current trip. In their last nine games entering the series, Pirate starting pitchers had an 0-7 record with an earned run average of 6.85. The last Pirate starter to win was Zane Smith, who beat the Houston Astros on May 9.

With one out in the seventh, Tomlin (5-3) singled to left and scored on a Jay Bell double to left. That put the Pirates ahead by 5-1.

Pittsburgh scored during the eighth inning on consecutive hits by Andy Van Slyke, Barry Bonds and Jeff King. Stan Javier hit a three-run homer for the Dodgers in the ninth.