DODGERS : Slight Groin Pull Slows Strawberry’s Comeback

A slight breeze and sunny skies greeted Darryl Strawberry when he stepped into the batting cage Monday, but the look on his face hinted at a different forecast. He warmed up by dropping some bunts, then walked out of the cage and stared ahead in silence.

On his second turn in the cage, Strawberry took a few swings, then quit.

“Can’t hit?” Brett Butler asked.

Strawberry shook his head, put his bats back, took off his helmet and walked slowly out of Holman Stadium. He had said he hoped that the groin pull he felt after Sunday’s game against the Houston Astros would somehow be gone. It wasn’t.

Dr. Frank Jobe later confirmed that Strawberry has a mild groin strain. Jobe said there was no tear or bleeding, so it could be as few as a couple of days before Strawberry is playing again.

But Strawberry, who said he had been making progress in his return from back surgery, was unhappy. He said he first thought he felt the pull while playing in the outfield Sunday, but felt it for certain when he ran after the game.

“Then I felt it all night long,” Strawberry said. “I just need to back off for a few days and let it rest. “

Strawberry said he has never had a groin pull in spring training.

“Normally, my legs and all are in shape when I get to spring training,” he said. “But this year I had to work so hard on rehabilitating my back that I couldn’t work on the rest of my body.”

Strawberry and the rest of the regular starters-- a term being used this season by the Dodgers--didn’t make the trip to Cocoa to play the Florida Marlins. Instead, they took batting practice, ran and had the option of taking the afternoon off.

A squad of reserves gave the Dodgers their first spring victory, 3-2. Ramon Martinez, in his first appearance, pitched out of jams in the first two innings before settling down. Jeff Conine, a former pitcher at UCLA, homered to center field off Martinez in the fourth inning. Martinez had four walks and four strikeouts in four innings.

The Dodgers took advantage of an error in the eighth inning to tie the score, 2-2. In the ninth, Raul Mondesi tripled and then scored the winning run on a pinch-hit single by Henry Rodriguez. Jim Gott pitched two innings of relief and got the victory.

It was the first Grapefruit League defeat for the expansion Marlins, who are 3-1. The Dodgers are 1-3.