Sheffield Joins a Crowded Disabled List

Gary Sheffield joined Eric Karros on the 15-day disabled list Monday because of torn ligaments in his left index finger, leaving the Dodgers without their top run producers of last season.

“It’s the best thing for the team,” said Sheffield, batting .293 with 11 home runs and 26 runs batted in.

“I can’t do any good with a bad finger, so I hope somebody else can help until I get better. I have to give them the chance to have some extra guys to help this team keep winning.”

Shortstop Tim Bogar, who has played in only three games because of a strained left hamstring, was activated from the disabled list. He flied out while pinch-hitting in the ninth inning and played first base in an 11-10 Dodger victory over Colorado.

Bogar suffered setbacks during his rehabilitation program and has not healed completely, but team officials are running out of options.

The Sheffield move is retroactive to Thursday, so the left fielder is eligible to be activated June 8 for the first game of a three-game interleague series against the Angels at Dodger Stadium.

However, Sheffield reiterated he might be sidelined a month, compounding the Dodgers’ production problems.

A severely sprained lower back prompted the club to put first baseman Karros on the disabled list Thursday, and a sprained right thumb has slowed second baseman Mark Grudzielanek, who said he also might be on the disabled list if Sheffield or Karros were active.

“When you have pitching like we do, timely hitting and guys coming up big, like [outfielder] Marquis [Grissom], you can get by,” Sheffield said. “For how long? Well, we don’t know. Hopefully me and E.K. can get back after 15 days and pick up where we left off.”

Just another day at Chavez Ravine, where Manager Jim Tracy has shuffled lineups and crossed his fingers.

“Injury-wise, it’s about as bad as it gets,” Tracy said. “It’s a situation where you don’t have your first baseman, you don’t have your left fielder and you have your second baseman on kind of a day-to-day thing.

“I’m certainly not going to change my direction in the fact that I told these guys we’re not going to look to point fingers and make excuses. As the leader of this group, I know in my mind, after what I’ve seen through 50 games, they believe it. I certainly believe it.

“The guys who we have here are going to come out and give what they’ve got from day to day, and we’re going to get through this. And if we do get through it, and we get to the point where we get back healthy, we’re going to make it awfully tough on some people.”

Karros agrees.

“We’re in a good situation right now [in the National League West],” the club’s No. 3 all-time home run leader said. “We’ve weathered some storms, and I think we’ll be able to continue to weather some things this year.”

Grudzielanek was not in the lineup after aggravating his thumb injury in Sunday’s 5-4, 12-inning victory over the Houston Astros.

He has been productive despite pain, batting .312 with seven homers, 23 RBIs and 28 runs.

How’s he doing it?

“I don’t know,” said Grudzielanek, who suffered the injury April 25 while sliding into third base.

“[Sunday] was not a good day. I hurt it pretty bad a couple of times and took a step in the wrong direction, so I definitely needed a day [Monday]. The question is, ‘Is a couple of weeks [on the disabled list] long enough?’ Right now, I don’t think that’s the case.

“I’m not messing around for two or three weeks and have it not get better. I’m just going to take the treatment, keep doing what I’m doing, and try to get it as healthy as possible. I don’t want to [go on the disabled list], so I’m just going to try to battle through it and see what happens. We knew we were going to have ups and downs.”

Left-handed reliever Jesse Orosco made his first appearance of the season, facing two batters in the Rockies’ two-run eighth.

In relief of Terry Adams, Orosco gave up a run-scoring single to switch-hitter Neifi Perez, batting right-handed, and struck out left-handed batter Larry Walker. The run was charged to Adams.

Orosco, whose contract was purchased from triple-A Las Vegas on Thursday, is baseball’s all-time appearance leader with 1,097.

TONIGHT

DODGERS’

KEVIN BROWN

(6-2, 1.96 ERA)

vs.

ROCKIES’

BRIAN BOHANON

(1-4, 9.40 ERA)

Dodger Stadium, 7

TV--Fox Sports Net 2.

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

Update--Brown is leading the league in earned-run average and home ERA at 0.61. Opponents are batting only .210 against the right-hander, who is 8-4 with a 3.07 ERA against the Rockies. Bohanon was on the disabled list because of an inflamed left (pitching) elbow. He is 4-3 with a 5.68 ERA against the Dodgers.