Brown Might Miss Tuesday Start

The Dodgers are considering skipping Kevin Brown in the rotation because an MRI exam Saturday revealed he has an inflamed nerve in his neck.

The struggling right-hander acknowledged he experienced the problem last Tuesday before a 7-2 loss to the Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium.

“Basically, where the nerve root comes out, it’s pinched,” said Brown, also suffering from a rib-cage injury. “The nerve is swollen in that space, and that’s what is causing all the irritation.

“I don’t know what the medical term is that they call it. It all boils down to the fact that the nerve is inflamed where it comes out.”

Brown is scheduled to start Tuesday against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Bank One Ballpark, but Manager Jim Tracy said setup man Terry Adams or long reliever Giovanni Carrara might take Brown’s turn if his condition does not improve.

“I woke up that day and my neck was a mess,” Brown said. “Probably not too many guys who are on the road as much as we’re on the road who haven’t woken up, at some point in time, with something, but it just hasn’t gone away like I thought it would.”

But there seemed to be confusion about when the injury occurred and the results of the MRI.

Although Brown said he awoke in pain the morning of his last outing, Tracy said Brown was fine until the morning after he had pitched. Regarding the exam, Tracy said, “everything came back negative.”

Brown, who began the season on the disabled list because of an Achilles’ tendon injury, has also experienced back problems but is determined to remain on the active roster.

“We don’t know where things stand,” he said. “We don’t know if a week [off] is going to do it. If you knew for sure that was the case, then you’d do that. But we don’t know.”

After starting the season 5-1 with a 1.09 earned-run average, Brown is 1-2 with a 7.16 ERA in his last three starts. He has given up 24 hits, 13 earned runs and walked eight in 16 1/3 innings.

“[The neck injury] keeps you from doing what you want to do,” Brown said. “But I didn’t use it as an excuse [after his last start] and I’m not going to now. I played with it at its worst last time.”

Andy Ashby (right elbow strain) experienced tightness in his elbow after throwing 60 pitches, but was optimistic about the longest bullpen session in his rehabilitation program.

“It’s tight,” Ashby said. “I went 20, rested five minutes, then 20, rest, 20, so I made 60. I think it’s a matter of just breaking some of that stuff [scar tissue] up in there now. It’s just frustrating how long it takes to build your arm strength back up.

“I went 49 the last time. I threw curveballs and everything today, no splits, though. But 60 pitches is pretty good. It’s just a matter of getting stretched out to where my arm strength is back. But we’re on our way.”

Ashby, who hopes to begin a rehabilitation assignment late next week, will take the day off today.

Eric Gagne believes his sessions with pitching coach Jim Colborn will help him rebound after consecutive poor starts.

“I worked a lot with Colby,” Gagne said. “We worked on getting the ball down, mixing pitches, throwing a lot of curveballs.

“I feel pretty confident [about today’s start]. I know what I’m capable of, but sometimes you just have to get back to fundamentals.”

TODAY

DODGERS’

ERIC GAGNE

(1-3, 5.14 ERA)

vs.

ASTROS’

KENT BOTTENFIELD

(2-4, 5.16 ERA)

Enron Field, 11:30 a.m. PDT

TV--Channel 5

Radio--KXTA (1150), KWKW (1330)

Update--Gagne had a no-decision last Monday in the Dodgers’ 11-10, 11-inning victory over the Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium. The right-hander is 1-0 in two career starts against the Astros. Bottenfield is 6-0 with a 3.80 earned-run average in 20 career appearances against the Dodgers.