Dreifort

LOS ANGELES -- High-priced right-hander Darren Dreifort will undergo surgery to repair a torn ligament in his pitching elbow for the second time in his career and miss at least a year.

The "Tommy John" surgery Dreifort will undergo next Tuesday at Centinela Hospital Medical Center in nearby Inglewood will be similar to the operation performed on his elbow March 14, 1995 -- a procedure that kept him out of action that entire season.

"I'm OK right now, I'm not dead," Dreifort said with a thin smile before the Dodgers played the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday night. "The better thing this time is I'm part of the team. The last time, I was in Triple-A.

"The surgery's been done a few thousand times. It's only had to be re-done a few times. It's like playing the lottery, not a lottery you want to win."

The 29-year-old Dreifort signed a five-year, $55 million contract with the Dodgers last winter. He was 4-7 with a 5.13 ERA this season.

He left last Friday night's game in San Diego after striking out Ben Davis leading off the sixth inning, but waited until Tuesday to have an MRI because of swelling in his elbow.

"He tore the muscle off the bone in the elbow and tore the ligament that was previously repaired," said team physician Dr. Frank Jobe, who performed the original "Tommy John" surgery on the former left-handed pitcher in 1974 and will team with Dr. Ralph Gambardella on next Tuesday's operation.

"He needs to have reconstructive surgery again," Jobe said. "It should go well. I think he'll do as well this time as he did before, which means in about a year, he should be ready to pitch."

Dreifort, who has a career record of 43-52 with a 4.38 ERA, is the second member of the Dodgers' starting rotation to be sidelined for the season and the 12th member of the team to go on the disabled list this year.

Andy Ashby, who signed with the Dodgers during the offseason, only made two starts before injuring his pitching elbow, and was declared out for the year last month.

Staff ace Kevin Brown has also spent time on the disabled list, as have five starting position players.

Nevertheless, the Dodgers entered Tuesday night's game having won seven straight games to raise their record to 45-37, and trailed NL West-leading Arizona by 5½ games.

"We've faced about as much adversity as you could possibly throw at a group of people," first-year Dodgers manager Jim Tracy said. "You start a season with a group of guys on paper, you really like what you're looking at. The guarantee of it staying that way an entire season is very unlikely."

Eric Gagne, 3-0 with a 1.74 ERA since being sent to Triple-A Las Vegas last month after going 1-4 with a 5.88 ERA with the Dodgers, will be recalled and start against the Giants on Wednesday night, Tracy said.

Others in the rotation will be Brown, Chan Ho Park, rookie Luke Prokopec and converted reliever Terry Adams.

"Eric's going to come back, we'll give him the ball again, see what happens," interim general manager Dave Wallace said. "You deal with the hand your dealt."

Wallace wouldn't say whether the Dodgers would try to trade for a veteran starter.

"I don't think we'll address that until we get closer to the (trade) deadline, play some games," he said.

Paul Lo Duca, who was catching when Dreifort left last Friday night's game, said he believed his teammate was pitching hurt for a long time.

"And he didn't say a word," Lo Duca said. "The last three innings were amazing to me. He got guys out with a torn ligament in his elbow."

Scott Boras, Dreifort's agent, said the diagnosis was no surprise.

"It's not a great day," Boras said. "Darren's already come back from this once. There's no question he can do it.

"After maybe four or five starts, I did have a conversation with Darren, that was the first time I was aware he had some stiffness in his elbow. There was not anything I could see or Darren thought would end his season."