Slumping Lo Duca Not Blaming Fatigue

The natural inclination when a catcher goes into a slump in August is to blame fatigue, the four months of wear and tear that comes with the most physically demanding position in baseball.

Dodger catcher Paul Lo Duca, who did not start Thursday night after going two for 27 in the last seven games, a skid that dropped his average from .306 to .291, will not use that as an excuse.

“I feel great physically--I’m actually healthier than I’ve been all year,” Lo Duca said. “I was more banged up earlier in the season than I am now.”

But the scars of a grueling season aren’t all physical. The two balls Lo Duca blistered up the middle Wednesday, only to have them ricochet off the pitcher and to the second baseman for a double-play grounder and a groundout, left a mark. So does the frustration of driving in only nine runs in 24 games since the All-Star break.

“It’s very important we get him a day [off],” Manager Jim Tracy said. “He’s been hitting in some awfully tough luck. He’s caught Kazuhisa Ishii all season, and he’s taken a good beating with all the balls in the dirt. With all the things going on, I thought this was a good day to give him a breather.”

Lo Duca, who has started 94 of the Dodgers’ 115 games behind the plate, did not object, even though the Dodgers were facing a left-hander in Pittsburgh starter Jimmy Anderson.

“I’m not getting the job done, so maybe I do need a day off,” Lo Duca said. “That’s the bottom line. I’m not pressing. Things just aren’t going well for me right now. I’m not swinging the bat like I’m capable of, and when I hit the ball hard, they’re not falling in.”

*

Kevin Brown will make his second--and likely final--minor league rehabilitation start when he pitches for triple-A Las Vegas tonight in Edmonton.

Brown, who underwent surgery for a herniated disk in his lower back on June 11 and on his elbow last September, will throw 80 to 90 pitches, and if all goes well, he will likely be activated to pitch next week in Montreal or New York.

“But I’m not going to be prophetic,” Brown said. “These days, I’m not going to make any predictions. I can pitch [now]. The question is, how effective will I be? They have to feel I’ll be effective.”

That won’t be measured by how many hits or runs or walks or strikeouts Brown records tonight.

“I want him to be healthy, to be sound,” Tracy said. “I’m not interested in how many strikeouts he has. I want him back in one piece. I want the Kevin Brown I used to manage, the guy I saw when I was a coach in Montreal. It’s been hard not seeing him in one piece.”

When Brown returns, either Omar Daal or Ishii will go to the bullpen, “but I’m not going to speculate on that right now,” Tracy said. “We will have a decision to make.”

*

Andy Ashby threw 7 1/3 scoreless innings in Wednesday night’s 4-0 win over Pittsburgh but was still chuckling Thursday over one pitch, a fifth-inning changeup to Jack Wilson that sailed to the screen--the upper half of it. “I thought it was going to hit my wife in the family section,” Ashby said. “I guess that’s what you call being effectively wild.”

ON DECK

Opponent--Philadelphia Phillies, three games.

Site--Dodger Stadium.

Tonight--7 p.m.

TV--Channel 13 tonight and Saturday night.

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

Records--Dodgers 64-51, Phillies 54-60.

Record vs. Phillies--2-2.

TONIGHT

DODGERS’

OMAR DAAL

(9-6, 4.04 ERA)

vs.

PHILLIES’

BRETT MYERS

(1-2, 4.50 ERA)

Update--The Phillies have won 10 of their last 17 games. Daal is the most likely candidate to be sent to the bullpen when Brown is activated, but if he keeps pitching like he has in his last three starts, in which the left-hander has given up six earned runs in 19 1/3 innings, he will make that decision very difficult for Tracy. Myers is a 22-year-old right-hander who will be making his fourth major league start.

Saturday, 7 p.m.--Hideo Nomo (11-6, 3.40) vs. Brandon Duckworth (5-8, 4.93).

Sunday, 5 p.m.--Odalis Perez (10-8, 3.16) vs. Randy Wolf (7-7, 3.81).

Tickets--(323) 224-1448.

Mike DiGiovanna