Reyes Goes Back to Albuquerque

The Dodgers sent rookie pitcher Dennis Reyes back to triple-A Albuquerque on Thursday night, recalling catcher Henry Blanco.

Reyes, 20, had a 1-2 record in three starts.

Blanco was hitting .312 in 63 games at Albuquerque with five home runs and 34 runs batted in. He will be in Los Angeles only until Monday, when Ismael Valdes comes off the disabled list.

Catcher Mike Piazza, who has a pulled hamstring, might be ready to play tonight against Philadelphia. “We’ll know more at the park,” Manager Bill Russell said. “He hit today and it went well. Hopefully he’ll be well enough to play.”

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Ramon Martinez will be pitching again Saturday, six weeks after tearing the rotator cuff in his throwing shoulder.

Martinez will not be pitching for the Dodgers, but for the San Bernardino Stampede, the Dodgers’ Class-A California League team, on a rehabilitation assignment in Bakersfield.

Martinez, who threw 45 pitches in a simulated game Wednesday, may need another start, but his return to the Dodger rotation, barring an unforeseen setback, isn’t far off.

Martinez can say hello to former teammate Tim Wallach, who has been hired as the hitting coach at San Bernardino.

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Outfielder Karim Garcia’s season is over because of a nagging shoulder injury, and he will undergo surgery today to repair the damage. Garcia, 21, has been playing for Albuquerque, where he was hitting .305 with 20 home runs and 66 RBIs in 71 games. He also had 10 starts with the Dodgers, hitting .128 with a home run and eight RBIs.

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Professional baseball has been a big part of third-base coach Joe Amalfitano’s life for 43 years. But these days, it doesn’t take up quite as much of his life as it used to.

Amalfitano still can be found in the third-base coaching box, where he has been for the Dodgers since 1983.

But he finds his thoughts wandering these days to his wife, Kay, who is about to enter therapy as she continues her recovery from a serious auto accident in May in Chicago that left her with a broken foot, broken ribs, a broken wrist, burst vertebrae and a deep gash on her cheek.

“She’s my top priority,” Amalfitano said of his wife, to whom he has been married since 1982. “I still give this organization everything I have and they have been great throughout all of this, but I have to admit that now sometimes, my mind drifts and I think of her and what might have happened to her.

“This is a nice game played nice people, good kids, but she is No. 1 with me. The game used to be life and death to me, but now, when I think that death is something that could have happened to her, well, it makes me ill just to think of it.”

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The Dodgers’ radio broadcasts will move to XTRA-1150 next season, but the Spanish broadcasts will remain on KWKW (1330).

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TONIGHT’S GAME

* Opponent--Philadelphia Phillies, three games.

* Site--Dodger Stadium

* Tonight--7.

* TV--Fox Sports West 2 tonight.

* Radio--KABC (790), KWKW (1330).

* Records--Dodgers 53-49, Phillies 30-69.

* Record vs. Phillies--4-1.

DODGERS’ CHAN HO PARK (8-5, 3.20 ERA) vs. PHILLIES’ GARRETT STEPHENSON

(4-4, 3.30 ERA)

* Update--The numbers all favor the Dodgers in this series. The Phillies are, by far, the worst team in baseball by 10 games. The Phillies’ Curt Schilling shut out the Dodgers on opening day at Dodger Stadium, 3-0, but the Dodgers have won four in a row since. And tonight, the Dodgers will go with Park, who has a career-high three-game winning streak. Park doesn’t have a decision against the Phillies, but he has always pitched well against them. He has a 1.13 earned-run average against Philadelphia this season and a microscopic 0.63 ERA lifetime in 14 innings against the Phillies. Park does not have one of the Dodgers’ four complete games this season, but he has reached the seventh inning in nine of his last 11 starts. Stephenson has never faced the Dodgers. But he has gone 2-0 with a 1.15 ERA in his last two starts.

* Saturday, 7 p.m.--Hideo Nomo (9-8, 3.86) vs. Curt Schilling (11-9, 3.29).

* Sunday, 1 p.m.--Tom Candiotti (6-3, 3.22) vs. Phillies’ Matt Beech (0-5, 5.83).