BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : DODGERS : Gott Still Can’t Find the Groove

Just when he thought he was back in the groove, Jim Gott gave up a two-run homer to Ryan Thompson on Thursday night, prompting phone calls from concerned friends and family.

“They are calling and saying, ‘What’s the deal? Is your arm OK?’ ” Gott said Friday. “That’s the first thing everybody wants to know. Well, my arm is awesome. I am just looking to get in a groove, and it’s a very hard thing for me to go through right now. I’m in a slump, just like a hitter gets in a slump. I thought I was coming out of it and then, boom--you can’t explain any of it.”

In eight appearances and 9 1/3 innings, Gott has given up seven earned runs, including two home runs, and hit three batters and walked four. Friday night, he got into a jam in the eighth inning but pitched out.

His struggles started in spring training, when, adjusting to the set-up role after a successful season as a closer, he tried to pitch too fine.

“I was trying to be Orel (Hershiser) or something, and that’s not me,” Gott said. “I wasn’t aggressive enough. But then I started to get aggressive and pitch well and was feeling better than ever. Then I go out last night and walk a guy and give up the home run on a good pitch. Six of my seven earned runs have been at home. It’s all in my head, but I will work out of it. “

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A fan watching batting practice from the left-field pavilion before Friday night’s game fell over the rail and landed about 15 feet below in the Dodger bullpen. Melvin Augusta, 19, of Los Angeles, was taken by ambulance to USC County Hospital. He suffered a contusion to his left hip, was treated and released.

Augusta, standing about four rows up, was leaning over the rail over the bullpen when he fell. He caught himself and tried to hang before falling flat on his back.

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Third base coach Joe Amalfitano said that Tim Wallach, who was thrown out at third base in the fourth inning of Thursday night’s game, was not attempting to steal, as widely reported. With Eric Karros at bat, Wallach and Henry Rodriguez were running on a hit-and-run play, but the pitch thrown to Karros was a low breaking ball, and a bad pitch for him to hit.

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Carlos Hernandez was activated and Tom Prince sent to triple-A Albuquerque. Hernandez, who was in Florida rehabilitating a sprained back, said he actually had fun there, playing with rookies. “It reminded me of my days as a rookie,” he said, “but no more.” Hernandez also had arthroscopic surgery on his shoulder in November.