Sunday’s Game Was Swell One for Lo Duca

His eye a rainbow of black, blue, red and purple, Paul Lo Duca looked as though he had been forced to run through a gantlet of crazed cosmetic counter attendants Sunday morning.

But a day after being beaned on the bill of his helmet and left cheek by Seattle reliever Jeff Nelson, the swelling was down and Lo Duca was back in the Dodger lineup.

“I didn’t feel dizzy or whatever and I wanted to stay in the game [when it happened],” Lo Duca said. “When I woke up this morning I thought maybe I wouldn’t be able to play, it was really swollen, but the swelling’s gone down. I’ve iced it like five, six times today and if the swelling stays down, I’m fine.

“I wouldn’t go out there if there was a danger of me hurting the team.”

Lo Duca went one for two Sunday with a run-scoring sacrifice fly.

Nelson sought out Lo Duca during pregame warmups.

“He just apologized and I told him there was no need for an apology, I mean, I’m fine and that happens in baseball,” Lo Duca said. “He’s a great guy and I thanked him for apologizing to me.”

Manager Jim Tracy shuddered as though the sickening sound of the ball plugging Lo Duca still reverberated throughout Dodger Stadium.

“He’s an amazing kid and I’ve said that many times already,” Tracy said of Lo Duca. “I thought the potential for a wrestling match was there at home plate with the dialogue that was taking place, as I was bent over him, about the suggestion of a runner [for him] at that point in time. It was cable-type dialogue so I won’t get into that.”

Tracy said the decision to play Lo Duca on Sunday was left up to medical personnel.

“And if I had tried to keep him out of there [Sunday],” Tracy said, “I think some of that dialogue would have continued.”

Tracy blushed when asked his reaction to his name being tossed around as a manager-of-the-year candidate.

“If you’re looking for personal achievement,” Tracy said, “it’s pretty gratifying.”

Longtime Dodger Spanish-language announcer Jaime Jarrin will join pitchers Chan Ho Park and Jeff Shaw in Seattle for Tuesday’s All-Star game at Safeco Field. Jarrin, who entered the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown as a recipient of the Ford C. Frick Award in 1998, will call the game for Cadena Latina.

Las Vegas 51’s infielder Phil Hiatt, 32, who spent much of April swinging at and missing curveballs with the Dodgers, began Sunday’s games leading the triple-A Pacific Coast League with 22 home runs. He batted .363 with 10 home runs, 27 runs batted in and had 13 doubles and scored 28 runs in June.

Hiatt, who hit .182 with one homer and four RBIs with the Dodgers, turned down an invitation to play as a replacement in Wednesday’s triple-A All-Star game, citing a desire to spend more time with his family.

When Seattle center fielder Mike Cameron was informed Sunday that he’d be taking injured Tampa Bay Devil Ray outfielder/designated hitter Greg Vaughn’s place on the American League All-Star team, it gave the Mariners a league-high eight players on the AL roster.

“It’s a tribute to the players, not to me,” Seattle Manager Lou Piniella said. “They get the job done and they deserve all the credit.”