It’s Troubling to Jordan

That didn’t take long. What Manager Jim Tracy termed “a good problem to have” on Saturday did not seem like a good problem to left fielder Brian Jordan on Sunday.

Jordan, who played Friday night after sitting out the previous six games because of a lower-back injury, did not play Saturday or Sunday. When approached before Sunday’s game, the normally approachable and affable Jordan walked right by a group of reporters, saying, “Talk to the manager, man. He makes the lineup.”

Jordan didn’t elaborate, but it was clear he was not pleased, a sentiment he expressed during a closed-door meeting Sunday with Tracy.

“He is not real happy,” Tracy said. “I don’t expect anyone to be happy about not being in the lineup. I understand how he feels, and we will get back to him in a big way. But I can’t make a case for myself to remove Marquis Grissom from the lineup, and I can’t take [leadoff batter] Dave Roberts out.”

Grissom, who spent most of the season in a center-field platoon with Roberts, scored the only runs in Sunday’s 2-1 victory over the Mets after hitting a third-inning triple and a fifth-inning double. In his last 14 games, Grissom is batting .408 (20 for 49) with four home runs, 12 runs batted in and 15 runs.

Roberts has provided a spark at the top of the order and ranks second in the National League with 34 stolen bases, and removing him would greatly upset the chemistry of the lineup.

Jordan has played an integral role in improving team chemistry from last season. Could Tracy risk upsetting that harmony by potentially alienating one of his clubhouse leaders?

“He’s a professional, and he handles things in a professional manner,” Tracy said of Jordan. “He’s been in pennant races, he knows what it’s like to win, and we will get back to him. The fact is simply this: The guy in left field [Grissom] is swinging the bat so well, I can’t take him out.”

Tracy preferred to address the situation Sunday before letting Jordan’s frustration fester.

“Do you sit down and talk about it and say what you want or pretend like it’s not there and let it filter through the room?” Tracy said. “I know the kind of competitor he is, and it’s a tough situation right now.”

Not for Grissom.

“I want to be an everyday starter, that’s what I’ve been my whole career,” Grissom said. “I’m an everyday player, point blank. I’m healthy, I’m going out and playing, I’ve got to help the team every day. I don’t care about my status. I’m all right.... All I want to do the rest of my career is win and put up numbers.”

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Met Manager Bobby Valentine’s suggestion that Odalis Perez was tipping pitches during his seven-inning, one-hit, seven-strikeout performance in a 10-4 victory over New York Saturday night raised some eyebrows but not the ire of the Dodgers.

“Whatever he says about tipping pitches, I don’t care, because even if I was tipping pitches, they couldn’t hit them,” said Perez, whose perfect game was broken up with one out in the seventh. “I’d like to keep tipping pitches and throw the same game I did [Saturday] night.”

Asked how dominant he would have been if he hadn’t tipped any pitches, Perez joked, “Oh, it definitely would have been a perfect game.”

When told of Valentine’s comments, Dodger catcher Paul Lo Duca said, “Really? How many guys did he strike out? How many hits did he give up.... The guy almost threw a perfect game and they knew what he was throwing? I find that hard to believe. I don’t know if he’s trying to test his players or put his guys down, but I don’t get it.”

Dodger pitching coach Jim Colborn said most pitchers, from time to time, will tip pitches, but he doesn’t think Perez has had any significant problems this season. “Maybe they know something I don’t,” Colborn said. “But even when you know what’s coming, you can’t always hit it.”

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Dodger first baseman Eric Karros was ejected when he argued umpire Gary Cederstrom’s called third strike in the third inning Sunday.