CHARACTER BUILDER DODGERS RALLY; BROWN INJURED DODGERS 5, SAN DIEGO 4.

Byline: Brian Dohn Staff Writer

SAN DIEGO - With the way the Dodgers played, the season crashing and burning seemed possible when Kevin Brown left the game after being drilled in the left elbow with a pitch.

The Dodgers, easily confused with a certain Bears team of a few decades ago, rallied and kept from being totally embarrassed by their neighbors to the south.

They gave away some more runs early, but they rallied for three runs in the sixth inning and avoided a three-game sweep by beating the San Diego Padres 5-4 Sunday at Qualcomm Stadium.

The bigger news for the Dodgers, though, was Brown's left elbow. He was struck by Rodney Myers' pitch in the top of the sixth and had to leave the game. It was diagnosed as a bruise.

``I don't think there's going to be any problem,'' Brown said. ``It's going to be bruised and be sore, but I think it's going to be all right. It's pretty bad. I thought it was OK at first, and when (the pain) hit me I didn't know exactly what it was. I didn't know if something was broken, what the deal was. It was so direct, a shot to the nerve.''

Manager Jim Tracy said neither X-rays nor an MRI are scheduled for today's off day.

``It's a contusion of the left elbow,'' Tracy said. ``That's what I've been told. I don't know anything any further than that and I don't think there's any more to it than that, but I was very glad to see our ballclub rebound and respond the way it did. We did not play well defensively in the second inning (two errors, four unearned runs), and the way things have gone the previous two days, I think we showed a little bit of character to bounce back the way we did.''

Brown was on the disabled list last season after breaking his pinkie on a bunt attempt and he missed the first eight days of this season with a strained right Achilles' tendon. After the game against the Padres, Brown wore a bandage around the elbow, but he said he expected to make his start Friday at Dodger Stadium against the Padres.

``You think the worst and hope for the best,'' said reliever Mike Fetters, who pitched a scoreless eighth inning. ``It's `Oh, my God. Here we go again.' It seems like he's OK, and that's all I care about.''

Brown lasted five innings and allowed four runs, all of which came in the second inning and were unearned thanks to two errors. Shortstop Alex Cora booted a ball and third baseman Chris Donnels made an errant throw. Brown didn't help himself by following those miscues with a walk and three consecutive RBI singles.

But maligned leadoff hitter Tom Goodwin, who was batting .188 and is yet to draw a walk, tied it 4-4 with a two-run double to center field. Gary Sheffield was pitched around most of the day, drawing his 11th and 12th walks, but he did break the tie with a sacrifice fly to score pitcher Andy Ashby, who was running for Brown.

It was one of the few productive moments for the middle of the batting order. Shawn Green and Eric Karros combined to go 0 for 10 with five strikeouts. They left 11 runners on base.

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Photo:

Dodgers pitcher Kevin Brown is helped off the field after being hit in the elbow by a pitch Sunday afternoon in San Diego.

Bob Grieser/Associated Press