Back Lands Jordan on Disabled List

The Dodgers, feeling they could no longer play a man short, placed injured left fielder Brian Jordan on the 15-day disabled list Saturday and recalled utility player Jolbert Cabrera from triple-A Las Vegas.

Jordan, who has a protrusion in his lower back, had missed 12 of the previous 13 games and did not make enough progress to convince the Dodgers he could return in the next four or five days. He was placed on the DL retroactive to Aug. 17 and will be eligible to return Sept. 1.

“It’s probably best for the team, and it’s probably best for me,” said Jordan, who missed two-thirds of the 1997 season because of a bulging disk in his lower back. “They need a 25th player, and I can’t play.”

The question is, will Jordan be able to play at full strength again this season? He had one epidural injection and does not want another. And he doesn’t want to come back too soon and risk further damage.

“You’re dealing with a back, so you’re definitely concerned,” Jordan said. “If it was a knee or an ankle, you could play with that. But a back, with all the twisting, it impacts your whole body. It’s scary.

“I don’t want to rush it and put myself in the same situation I was in back in 1997. I had a shot, kept playing, and that made it worse. I had another shot, and it didn’t do anything. I’ve been there, done that. I don’t want to make the same mistake. I want to rehabilitate it, come back and make an impact.”

Neither Jordan nor the Dodgers believe the injury will require surgery in the off-season--Jordan is already planning to undergo knee surgery this winter--but they don’t want to take a chance.

“This is a guy’s career you’re talking about,” Manager Jim Tracy said. “You just don’t continue to take epidural injections. The back is nothing to mess around with because if you play at less than 100%, it could become a nagging thing for the rest of the season.”

Cabrera made an immediate contribution Saturday, playing left field in the seventh inning and third base in the eighth and ninth. He sacrificed the eventual tying run to third base in the seventh andstarted a 5-3 double play in the ninth to end the Dodgers’ 4-3 victory over the Braves.

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Second baseman Mark Grudzielanek, who is anything but a prototypical leadoff batter, led off for the third time this season Saturday, but he wasn’t about to change his approach to fit the role.

Grudzielanek is a free swinger who has 18 walks in 426 at-bats this season, including six walks in 149 at-bats since the All-Star break, and he’s not going to mess with a formula that has resulted in a .336 average (50 for 149) in the second half.

“I’m not going to do something I’m not comfortable with,” Grudzielanek said. “If it’s there, I hit it. If it’s a strike, I usually swing at it. I’m not going to work the count, look for this or that. I’ve been that way my whole career; I’m not going to change. I might take the first pitch of the game, that’s about it.”

Grudzielanek went 0 for 3, but he did walk and score the eventual winning run in the seventh inning.

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Tracy was planning to start Dave Roberts in the leadoff spot against Atlanta pitcher Tom Glavine Saturday--Roberts, a platoon player, has made only one start against a left-hander this season--but the center fielder did not play because of a stiff neck.

Roberts suffered the injury when he collided with left fielder Marquis Grissom to make a superb leaping catch of Javy Lopez’s drive to the wall in left-center field in the seventh inning Friday night, and he jarred the neck a few more times sliding head-first into third base in the ninth inning.

Tracy said he “hasn’t ruled out” the possibility of Roberts, who is batting .417 (10 for 24) against left-handers, starting against Brave left-hander Damian Moss tonight.

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TONIGHT

DODGERS’

KAZUHISA ISHII

(13-8, 4.05 ERA)

vs.

BRAVES’

DAMIAN MOSS

(7-5, 3.31 ERA)

Dodger Stadium, 5

TV--ESPN.

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

Update--Shawn Green’s two-run homer in the third inning Saturday gave him 100 RBIs on the season and 700 RBIs in his career. Dodger starting pitchers have combined for a 5-1 record and a 2.37 ERA (21 runs in 79 2/3 innings) in the last 12 games, having allowed 62 hits and struck out 42 batters. The Braves activated left-handed reliever Mike Remlinger off the disabled list Saturday and sent right-hander Kevin Gryboski to triple-A Richmond, Va.

Tickets--(323) 224-1448.