As It Happens, Stay in Vegas to Be Brief

James Loney was sent back to triple A to make room for reliever Elmer Dessens, but the rookie first baseman will be back when rosters expand Sept. 1.

And he’ll bring friends.

The Dodgers plan to promote power-hitting outfielder Matt Kemp and perhaps third baseman Andy LaRoche, utility infielder Oscar Robles and switch-hitting outfielder Delwyn Young from Las Vegas.

There are also plans to shore up the bullpen. The Dodgers have plenty of pitchers to choose from, although several have failed auditions this season.

Left-handers Hong-Chih Kuo -- who has been starting for several weeks -- and Tim Hamulack are strong candidates for promotion. Greg Miller is another left-handed possibility.

One or two right-handers could be promoted from a pool that includes Mark Alexander, Franquelis Osoria, Lance Carter and D.J. Houlton.

*

Loney had been the only left-handed bat on the bench since the Dodgers allowed veteran outfielder Ricky Ledee to be claimed off waivers by the New York Mets on Aug. 7.

Now there are none. Manager Grady Little thought it was more important to go with 12 pitchers during the three-city trip that began Friday than to keep Loney on the roster.

Dessens, who had been on the disabled list because of a sprained left ankle, made one ineffective rehabilitation appearance at Las Vegas before being activated. He pitched the eighth inning Friday in the Dodgers’ 7-3 loss to the Giants, giving up a solo home run to Steve Finley.

“Our No. 1 concern was not the results of the ballgame but how the ankle felt,” Little said. “We’re satisfied.”

*

Starter-turned-reliever Brett Tomko has experienced soreness in his right triceps recently, but it hasn’t kept him from taking the ball every time it has been offered. He said he is relearning signals his body is sending because the demands of the bullpen are so much different from those of the starting rotation.

“I’m sore all over nearly every day, but not to the degree I was sore after a start,” he said.

Tomko is as buoyant about pitching in relief as he was the day Little posed the idea. He likes the camaraderie he has developed with others in the surprisingly effective Dodgers bullpen.

“We have an in-the-trenches outlook,” he said. “I like it.”

So do the Dodgers. Tomko has given up only one run in 10 relief appearances -- each of which has been one full inning.

*

Dodgers double-A Manager John Shoemaker posted his 1,000th victory when the Jacksonville Suns defeated the Birmingham Barons.... Leadoff batter Rafael Furcal scored his 84th run in the first inning, putting him on pace to score 112. The last time a Dodgers leadoff batter scored more than 100 runs was in 1991, when Brett Butler had 112.