Dodgers Emerge Painfully Pleased

The Dodgers overcame their mistakes Sunday in a 5-4 victory over the San Diego Padres at Qualcomm Stadium, taking one of three games in the series, but had another painful experience before a crowd of 23,852.

Right-hander Kevin Brown left the game in the sixth inning after Padre reliever Rodney Myers (0-1) hit him with a pitch on his left elbow.

Brown, who began the season on the disabled list, suffered a contusion on his non-pitching elbow and is listed as day-to-day, team medical personnel said.

“It’s a contusion, that’s what I’ve been told, and I don’t know anything further than that,” Dodger Manager Jim Tracy said. “I don’t think there’s any more to it than that.”

Brown is expected to remain in the rotation, providing the Dodgers with multiple reasons to feel good after playing poorly in the first two games.

They rallied from a 4-1 deficit after two innings, taking a 5-4 lead on Gary Sheffield’s sacrifice fly during a three-run sixth.

Alex Cora’s first home run, in the second against Padre starter Kevin Jarvis, gave the Dodgers a 1-0 lead.

Matt Herges worked two scoreless innings in relief of Brown, who gave up five hits and four unearned runs in five innings, and Mike Fetters pitched a perfect eighth.

Closer Jeff Shaw again provided excitement in the ninth, walking Santiago Perez, who stole second to put the potential tying run in scoring position.

But Shaw struck out the side to preserve the victory for Brown (1-1) and earn his fourth save in five chances.

“You never want to get swept,” said Shaw, who on Friday blew his first save in 19 opportunities spanning two seasons. “We played very well in [winning two of three against the Arizona Diamondbacks], then we lost the first two here, so it’s good to win the last one here.”

The Dodgers committed three errors--two during the Padres’ four-run second--and at times appeared befuddled, but did enough right to improve to 3-3 on the trip with three games remaining against the San Francisco Giants.

The final series begins Tuesday at Pacific Bell Park, and Tracy can rest a little easier on his day off.

“I was glad to see our ballclub rebound and respond the way it did,” Tracy said. “We did not play well defensively in the second inning, and with the way things have gone the previous two days, I think we showed a little bit of character to bounce back the way we did.

“The way this series has gone, the rivalry between the two clubs and to come away with a victory today, we salvaged the series.”

It appeared Brown might not finish the trip.

He was writhing in pain after Myers hit him with the pitch, and Brown and the Dodgers had reason to be concerned.

“I thought it was OK when he first hit it, but I didn’t get but a couple of steps before it [the pain] hit right on my nerve,” said Brown, who began the season on the disabled list because of a right Achilles’ tendon injury. “It was pretty bad. When it hit me like that I didn’t know exactly what it was. I didn’t know if something was broken or what the deal was. It was real sharp.

“They checked it and they don’t think there was anything broken. It was just so direct a shot to the nerve is what it was. If somebody has a good horseshoe they want to share with me, I’d be glad to take one right now.”

Brown wore a protective sleeve after the game, and he will be monitored closely the next few days, but pitching coach Jim Colborn said the five-time all-star is expected to start Friday against the Padres at Dodger Stadium.

“He should be OK,” team trainer Stan Johnston said. “Luckily, it was his left elbow. If it was his right elbow, then I think we would have a problem.

“We don’t anticipate [further tests or X-rays] unless complications come up. We don’t expect any to come up.”