Jackson and Willis Ready for Action

When Edwin Jackson, making an emergency start in place of the injured Odalis Perez, faces Florida’s Dontrelle Willis in the series finale today, it will mark the first time this season that two African Americans have started against each other in a major league game, though Jackson was actually born in Germany.

“Every time we face each other we’ll go out there and battle and it’s fun,” Willis said. “I think we take a certain pride into it because it’s a selected few.”

Jackson, who will be officially called up from double-A Jacksonville today, arrived in Miami on Sunday but did not come to Dolphins Stadium. He made his major league debut on his 20th birthday on Sept. 9, 2003, and defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks and Randy Johnson.

He has struggled with consistency at the major league level; his record with the Dodgers is 4-2 with a 5.01 earned-run average in 12 appearances.

Jackson began this season at triple-A Las Vegas, going 3-7 with an 8.62 ERA in 12 games before being sent to Jacksonville, where the right-hander is 6-4 with a 3.48 ERA in 11 starts.

“I’m happy for him,” Willis said. “I had a chance to talk to him a lot in spring training. I met him when we played against each other in double A. We’re just hoping for the best for each other. I’m glad he got a chance to do well down there and get healthy and come back up here.

“There’s not that many African American players, position players, pitchers, what have you. To go out there and see him doing well, being successful ... we kind of feed off each other. Around the league, talking to other African American players, they tell me to keep going, give me words of encouragement. We always try to see how we’re doing. C.C. [Sabathia] in Cleveland, we talk a lot about pitching, just things like that to try to hope for the best for each other.”

Dodger Manager Jim Tracy said a corresponding roster move would be made before today’s game.

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Left-handed reliever Wilson Alvarez, who is on the disabled list with a sore left shoulder and resides in Miami, has joined the team for workouts. Though he is eligible to come off the disabled list Tuesday, he said he is not close to returning.

“Not really, no,” he said. “I just played catch [Saturday].”

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Cesar Izturis’ slump reached 0 for 20 Sunday. He is hitting .256, 89 points lower than he was June 1. The All-Star shortstop, who endured a .105 June and went on the DL from June 30-July 14 with a strained right hamstring, is batting .179 in August.