DODGERS NOTEBOOK: ELBOW DELAYS NEXT ASHBY START.

Byline: Brian Dohn Staff Writer

SAN FRANCISCO - A muscle strain in the right elbow of Andy Ashby forced the Dodgers to push the right-hander's next start back for a second time. Ashby, who was originally scheduled to pitch Wednesday, won't start until the weekend.

Ashby is tentatively scheduled to pitch Saturday against the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium, which will give him eight days' rest between starts.

An MRI taken Friday was negative, but Ashby received treatment on the elbow during the weekend series at San Diego, a Dodgers spokesman said.

``He's got a strain of his elbow,'' Dodgers manager Jim Tracy said. ``They completely ruled out any problems with the ligament.''

Ashby, who signed a three-year, $23.5 million free-agent contract in the offseason, is 2-0 with a 3.86 ERA in two starts. He pitched 6 2/3 innings in his Dodgers debut April 5 and allowed one run on seven hits in five innings Thursday at Arizona. He left that start after throwing 77 pitches, but the extent of the injury wasn't known then.

``We wanted to wait and see how he progresses with it,'' Tracy said. ``It's a strain of the medial area of his elbow. It's basically a strain. There's muscle tissue there and it's nothing more than that.''

Ashby's been on the disabled list six times in his career, once for tendinitis in his elbow.

The Dodgers altered their rotation for the upcoming three-game series against San Francisco to give Ashby an extra day to rest. After considering it, the Dodgers elected to change their rotation again and push Ashby back two more days. Darren Dreifort will open the series today followed by Chan Ho Park and Eric Gagne.

--Odds and ends: Left fielder Gary Sheffield was named co-NL player of the week for April 9-15. Sheffield batted .444 (8 for 18) with five homers, nine RBI and six walks in six games. Sheffield, who hit two homers in a game twice, had a .560 on-base percentage and a 1.278 slugging percentage. He's batting .359 with six homers, 11 RBI, 12 walks and a .491 on-base percentage. ... Right-hander Kevin Brown had no complications with his bruised left elbow and he's scheduled to make his first Dodger Stadium start of the season Friday against San Diego, Tracy said.

DODGERS VS. SAN FRANCISCO

Time: 7:15 p.m., at Pac Bell Park.

TV/Radio: Ch. 5; 1150-AM, KWKW-AM (1330 Spanish).

Matchup: The three-game series by the bay is the last stop of a three-city, nine-game trip, and it's only for first place. The Dodgers trail the Giants by a game in the National League West and they send right-hander Darren Dreifort (1-1, 6.75 ERA) against left-hander Shawn Estes (0-1, 6.20). Dreifort was 2-0 with a 0.47 ERA in three starts against the Giants last season. San Francisco left fielder Barry Bonds needs one homer to become the 17th player with 500 in his career. He's a lifetime .444 hitter (8 for 18) against Dreifort. Wednesday - Dodgers right-hander Chan Ho Park (2-0, 3.32) vs. Giants right-hander Livan Hernandez (1-2, 7.56); Thursday - Dodgers right-hander Eric Gagne (0-1, 5.29) vs. Giants left-hander Kirk Rueter (2-0, 5.51).

- Brian Dohn

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DODGERS VS. SAN FRANCISCO (see text)