Perez Pointing Finger at Team

Feeling betrayed by the Dodgers, left-hander Odalis Perez expressed concern Tuesday about the team’s handling of his fingernail problem.

Perez, who won’t pitch again this season, had a disastrous one-inning outing in a 9-5 loss to San Diego on Monday.

After skipping a start last week because of a broken fingernail on the middle finger of his pitching hand, Perez developed a blood blister on his first pitch Monday. The Padres scored four runs in the first as Perez couldn’t grip the ball properly and struggled with his command.

He said he knew he should not have pitched, but he felt enormous pressure to take the mound while continuing to be roundly criticized in the clubhouse and media for last week’s decision.

Moreover, Perez said the Dodgers did not do enough to support him publicly -- the most troubling part of the situation for him.

“It was all the pressure. All the pressure I had on me, I had to try,” Perez said. “If I missed last night’s start, today in the newspapers it would be something like the biggest thing in the world. I don’t want that. I don’t want people to think that I don’t want to be out there because I want to be out there. I want to be out there sure I’m able to do it.

“When I went out last night, it was unbelievable. My fastball ... I throw my fastball from 90 to 93-94 [mph]. Last night it was 94-95-96, and that was because I couldn’t hold the ball. There was no way for me to do it. No way.

“As soon as I threw the first pitch, when I saw the finger there was a blister already. I told Alex [Cora, the second baseman], ‘Alex, look at this. There is a blister already.’ ”

Although pitching coach Jim Colborn has been supportive, Perez is disappointed other team officials have not been as vocal with reporters.

“They [should] want to protect a guy they know is a warrior and who wants to go out there and pitch,” Perez said.

“If they know the way I feel, if they see my nail and my finger and they know I am hurt, it’s up to them to tell you guys, ‘The kid is not ready to pitch. He doesn’t feel good to pitch.’ They have to step up and say it. They have to.”

Manager Jim Tracy said he has supported Perez.

“As far as the pressure that he felt about last night, I don’t put that kind of pressure on my players,” Tracy said. “There was no way that I was going to send a guy to the mound who didn’t feel like he could go out there and pitch. If there was the least bit of reservation whatsoever, there were any number of opportunities that we gave him to say, ‘No.’ A number of them.”

General Manager Dan Evans said management supports the players.

“We treat all of our players with as much respect as we possibly can,” Evans said. “In no way do we as an organization ever do anything but respect the guys. That’s just the way we do it.”

Rookie Edwin Jackson will take Perez’s turn in the rotation Saturday during a doubleheader against San Francisco at Pacific Bell Park.

Perez acknowledged he might be playing elsewhere next season.

“I love L.A. I’d love to stay in L.A.,” said Perez, who finished 12-12 with a 4.52 earned-run average. “But if that doesn’t happen, if I have to go somewhere else, that is not my decision.

“So we will see. We will see what’s going to happen in the off-season.”

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Right-hander Darren Dreifort underwent successful surgery in Boston to repair a partial tear of tissue on his right hip, the team announced.

Dreifort is expected to be ready for the start of spring training.