Is It Time for Something to Be Dunn?

Call it power-hitter envy. Manager Jim Tracy leaned back in his chair and marveled at a highlight he had watched on TV the night before.

“Adam Dunn’s grand slam, wow,” he said. “He took that two-seamer on the outside third and crushed it to left-center.”

Dunn, a Cincinnati Red outfielder-first baseman, has 23 home runs. He hit 46 last season. The Dodgers’ eight position players that finished Sunday’s game had a total of 22 homers.

Rumors are rampant that Dunn could be headed for L.A. if the Dodgers remain convinced they can make a run at the National League West title. Tracy, however, would not speculate on that.

“I won’t even begin to go there,” he said.

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Kelly Wunsch’s ankle injury, which will require surgery, is similar to the injury that Boston’s Curt Schilling has battled for 10 months, but the recovery period for the Dodger reliever should be shorter.

Schilling has resumed pitching after surgery in November. However, the temporary measures the Red Sox took to keep him pitching during the playoffs and World Series last fall complicated the procedure.

“My situation is much more clean,” Wunsch said. “I’ll just go in, have the surgery and begin rehabilitation. I should be OK by spring training.”

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Cesar Izturis lost to David Eckstein in the fan vote to become starting shortstop for the National League, but he did win the hearts of many in his native Venezuela, a country where baseball is a welcome distraction from rampant crime and political unrest.

Wrote Mari Montes of the daily newspaper El Universal of the campaign to vote for Izturis: “In these days, we were all together for one cause and our will was respected, which is what some would like to see in life, as well as baseball.”

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For the third time in four days, outfielder Milton Bradley worked out without feeling any soreness in his injured finger, taking live batting practice from both sides of the plate.

Although the medical staff has not provided a timetable for his return, Tracy was encouraged by the third consecutive positive medical report.

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Left-hander Wilson Alvarez gave up a two-run home run in his latest one-inning rehabilitation stint at triple-A Las Vegas.