Jordan Coming Off Disabled List Today

HOUSTON —  Left fielder Brian Jordan, limited to one game in the last three weeks because of a protruding disk in his lower back, will be activated off the disabled list today and is expected to start the series finale against the Astros.

Jordan has a reputation as a late-season clutch hitter--his dramatic grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning capped a seven-run rally that gave the Braves a key 8-5 win over the Mets last Sept. 29--and he could make a difference as the Dodgers push for their first playoff berth since 1996.

“If he’s right and does some of the things we’ve seen from afar in the month of September, he could be a huge boost for our club,” Manager Jim Tracy said. “But this guy has been hurt the majority of the season, with a knee problem and a stiff back. I just hope he can play seven more weeks as injury free as possible.”

Jordan, who is batting .268 with 13 homers and 50 runs batted in, felt good after batting practice Saturday.

“But I’m not going to say I’m 100%,” he said. “It depends--when you make that first dive, you never know what’s going to happen. All I can do is play hard. [If I don’t play well], it’s not going to be from a lack of effort.”

Marquis Grissom has been a capable replacement in left, giving Tracy a viable option should Jordan not produce.

“If things don’t go well,” Jordan said, “Trace will make the right decisions.”

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Among the four players--outfielder Wilkin Ruan, pitcher Jeff Williams, second baseman Joe Thurston and catcher David Ross--who will be recalled from triple-A Las Vegas when the Dodgers expand their roster today, Ruan and Williams could have the biggest impact.

Like Chone Figgins has done for the Angels, the speedy Ruan will give the Dodgers a potent, late-inning base-running threat. Ruan was successful on all 12 stolen-base attempts in 40 games for Las Vegas and stole 23 bases in 26 attempts in 78 games for double-A Jacksonville.

Williams, a side-arm-throwing left-hander, gave up 12 earned runs in 5 1/3 innings of four games for the Dodgers in May, but he returned to Las Vegas and became a closer, going 6-4 with a 2.60 earned-run average and 28 saves.

Williams could give Tracy a second situational left-hander in front of Jesse Orosco, enabling the manager to use Williams in the fifth or sixth inning and save Orosco for the seventh and eighth. Thurston hit .334 with 38 doubles and a minor league-leading 196 hits, and Ross hit .298 with 14 homers and 65 RBIs.

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First baseman James Loney, the Dodgers’ first-round pick (19th overall) in the June draft, broke his left wrist after being hit by a pitch in a game for Class-A Vero Beach on Thursday and will be sidelined for four to six weeks.

Loney, who signed for $1.5 million, missed the final week of the season and will not be able to participate in the fall instructional league, as planned.

He hit .303 in 66 at-bats for Vero Beach after batting .371 with five homers and 30 RBIs in 170 at-bats for the Dodgers’ rookie-league affiliate in Great Falls, Mont.

TODAY

DODGERS’

HIDEO NOMO

(12-6, 3.41 ERA)

vs.

ASTROS’

CARLOS HERNANDEZ

(6-4, 4.84 ERA)

Minute Maid Park, Houston, 11:30 a.m.

TV--Channel 13.

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

Update--Since his 3-5 start, which fueled speculation he might be demoted to the bullpen in mid-May, Nomo has been the Dodgers’ most effective and consistent starter, going 9-1 with a 3.15 ERA in his last 20 starts. Dodger reliever Giovanni Carrara, sidelined since Aug. 11 because of a strained right forearm, and utility infielder Jeff Reboulet, out since July 19 because of a strained back, will be activated off the disabled list today.