Repko injury gives Little a scare

With shortstop Rafael Furcal and outfielder Marlon Anderson sidelined indefinitely because of sore arms, the Dodgers can ill afford an injury to another key player only three weeks before opening day.

So the team was no doubt holding its collective breath Saturday when outfielder Jason Repko tumbled to the ground because of a right groin strain in the seventh inning of a 5-2 split-squad win over the Florida Marlins in Jupiter, Fla.

But the injury looked worse than it was.

“It’s not nearly as bad as I thought,” said Repko, who missed 10 weeks because of a severely sprained ankle last season. “We’ll know a lot more ... once it settles down a little bit.”

Repko said the strain was in the middle of his quadriceps, not high in the groin. That counts as good news. Still, Manager Grady Little intends to proceed cautiously, as he’s done with Furcal and Anderson.

“Initially anything like that doesn’t sound good,” Little said. “It’s a bad time for him, this late in spring training. Hopefully it’s not too bad.”

Repko, who had two doubles in five at-bats and stole his team-leading third base of the spring, hurt himself chasing Paul Hoover’s fly to right-center in the seventh inning -- only two batters after moving over from left field. He eventually hobbled off the field and returned to Vero Beach ahead of the team to receive treatment.

“A couple of steps before I caught the ball I kind of felt it tighten up on me,” said Repko, who hit .232 in 198 games as a backup outfielder the last two seasons. “At that point the best thing was just to come off [the field] and take care of it.”

In Saturday’s other game, Nomar Garciaparra had two hits, including his second homer in three days, and Luis Gonzalez had two hits and two runs batted in in an 8-5 loss to Florida at Holman Stadium.

Starter Jason Schmidt struggled for the Dodgers, giving up four runs and five hits in three innings, but closer Takashi Saito was brilliant. Making his second appearance in a spring hampered by a right calf injury, Saito struck out two and retired the side in order in his only inning, throwing seven of his eight pitches for strikes.

A good cause

Schmidt, whose mother died of cancer, interrupted his regular pre-start preparation to visit with 8-year-old Savannah Colquitt, who recently underwent surgery for brain cancer. The third-grader from Thomasville, Ga., who was diagnosed in August, is now cancer free but must still undergo two more radiation treatments.

“It’s not something you can put into words,” Schmidt said of the chance to support cancer patients. “You don’t ever think it’s going to happen to you and then it does.”

The pitcher has given money for brain cancer research and plans to continue supporting the cause this season through the Dodgers Dream Foundation.

“It puts baseball in perspective,” he said. “It just puts a different spin on everything.”

Overcharging

Juan Pierre popped a bunt over hard-charging Marlins third baseman Joe Dillon in the third inning of Saturday’s game in Vero Beach and got a double out of it, something he said he’s done four or five times before. “I wish I could say we practice that,” he said. “But we don’t.” ... First baseman/outfielder James Loney and left-hander Mark Hendrickson continued to build strong cases for roster spots with Loney going two for four to keep his average at .500 and Hendrickson’s giving up one hit and an unearned run in three innings in the game at Jupiter.

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kevin.baxter@latimes.com