DODGERS' FURCAL OUT WITH BADLY SPRAINED ANKLE.

Byline: TONY JACKSON 

Staff Writer

VERO BEACH, Fla. -- The calm of what had been a charmed spring training for the Dodgers was shattered Thursday when shortstop and leadoff hitter Rafael Furcal suffered a moderately sprained left ankle in a near-collision with Jason Repko in shallow center field.

Furcal will miss at least a week, casting his status for the April 2 season opener into serious doubt.

Repko himself left the game two innings later with a high strain of his left hamstring, an injury that effectively guarantees he will begin the season on the disabled list.

Furcal ran into center field in pursuit of a pop fly hit by Baltimore's Corey Patterson, the first batter of the first inning of a Grapefruit League game the Dodgers would lose 8-0 in front of 6,367 at Holman Stadium. Repko, who was playing center, charged the ball, but he nad Furcal didn't see each other until it was too late.

"When I caught the ball, he slid," Furcal said. "I think my foot got turned when it (grazed) his body."

Furcal landed awkwardly and sprained the ankle. He was carted off the field and taken to a local hospital for X-rays, which were negative. While Furcal was greatly relieved to hear there were no broken bones and said he probably wouldn't be out more than four or five days, trainer Stan Conte was much more cautious in his assessment.

"It will be longer than a week," Conte said. "I will know better in a couple of days ... Right now, this is 100 percent medical. With respect to figuring out when he will be able to play, that is kind of the least of our concerns at this point. It just doesn't help anybody to try to figure out if he'll be ready by Opening Day or not."

As for Repko, who missed more than two months last season with a sprained left ankle and suffered a strained right groin earlier this spring, Opening Day now seems impossible.

"It will probably be measured in weeks," Conte said.

The injuries figure to open spots on the Opening Day roster for infielder Wilson Valdez, a 40-man roster player who is having an outstanding spring and is out of minor-league options, and outfielder Larry Bigbie, a non-roster veteran who is having an even better spring and has an escape clause in his contract if he receives a major- league offer from another club.

"We're comfortable with the personnel we have," Dodgers manager Grady Little said. "They're not Rafael Furcal, but we do have some options in most areas."

Valdez likely would take over as the Dodgers' regular shortstop, with Bigbie providing a fourth outfielder and left-handed bat off the bench. Another result of Furcal's potential absence is that newly signed center fielder Juan Pierre, a career leadoff hitter, could move back into the top spot until Furcal returns. That probably would mean catcher Russell Martin temporarily would move into the second spot.

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CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo:

(1) Rafael Furcal injures his left ankle after colliding on this play with Jason Repko on Thursday.

Bob Jordan/Associated Press

(2 -- color) FURCAL

Box:

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

- Tony Jackson