BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : DODGERS : Davis Plays Hard, but Gets Hurt Again

Eric Davis is frustrating the Dodgers again with his inability to stay sound.

Davis missed both starts in Tuesday’s doubleheader by straining his right groin muscle shortly after collecting the winning hit in the seventh inning of Monday’s second game.

He felt the injury after stealing third base in the seventh inning with the Dodgers leading by two runs. It is the third time this season that he had been injured while trying to do something extra.

While the injury is not considered enough to force Davis to the disabled list for the second time this season, it forced him to miss his 32nd and 33rd starts in 82 games because of injury.

“The problem is not that Eric does not want to play, it is that he plays so hard all the time,” Manager Tom Lasorda said. “This is why I admire him so much. He throws himself out there with no concern for his future.

“A lot of guys in the last years of their contracts would not do that, but not Eric.”

This could hurt Davis when the Dodgers meet this fall to decide whether to offer him a long-term contract. And he knows it.

“A lot of my friends in the game, they are always telling me I play too hard, but I can’t change,” Davis said. “I know it could eventually be a matter of money, but money has never been the main thing in my life.

“I have to be true to myself, and go after everything that is hit out there, and do whatever it takes.”

Davis and Darryl Strawberry have been together in the starting lineup in 21 of 82 games.

Strawberry played in only the first game Tuesday and will probably be on a reduced schedule for a while. “The stiffness is still there,” Strawberry said. “I need to get back in slowly.” He said he will take a couple of days off on the Dodgers’ first trip after the All-Star break because it involves games on artificial turf in Philadelphia and Montreal. After getting one bloop single in his first seven at-bats, he admitted that his timing was off. . . . Todd Benzinger sat out the doubleheader with a virus. He has two hits in his last 19 at-bats, and has two RBIs since June 12. . . . Even former Dodgers can’t avoid misfortune. Manny Mota, a batting coach, has worn a neck brace for two days because of stiffness suffered when he batted Sunday in the old-timers’ game. . . . Mike Scioscia returned to the lineup for the first game Tuesday, and apparently suffered no ill-effects from his home plate collision with Gary Carter in the first game Monday. He was removed from the middle of that doubleheader because of swelling in his right forearm, an earlier injury. . . . Moises Alou, the Expos’ outfielder and one of the favorites for rookie of the year, has been placed on the 15-day disabled list because of a strained left hamstring he suffered Monday.

With the announcement of All-Star game reserves two days away, Tom Candiotti remains convinced he will not be the Dodgers’ selection despite a 3.03 earned-run average, two shutouts and four complete games. “C’mon man, I’m 6-7, and I’m going to be an All-Star?” Candiotti said.