DODGERS NOTEBOOK: GAGNE HEADED BACK TO DL.

Byline: Tony Jackson Staff Writer

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Dodgers closer Eric Gagne will return to the 15-day disabled list today after an MRI Monday revealed a recurrence of the ulnar collateral ligament sprain in his right elbow that sidelined him for almost six weeks to start the season.

The MRI was administered by Kansas City Royals team physician Steve Joyce, and the results were sent to Los Angeles for examination by Dodgers orthopedist Frank Jobe. A more definitive prognosis will be made after Jobe examines them.

``I'm pretty concerned,'' Gagne said. ``You never want to hurt your elbow. But we're not sure what it is exactly. We'll find out ... and go from there.''

Although his velocity hasn't reached pre-injury standards, Gagne has been effective. He recorded his eighth save Sunday against Minnesota, pitching a perfect ninth inning that included two strikeouts and a groundball.

``It was his best outing of the year, in my opinion,'' Dodgers manager Jim Tracy said.

Gagne began feeling what he described as ``a warm sensation'' in the elbow while warming up for Sunday's appearance. After the game, he reported it to trainer Stan Johnston.

``The predominant word I heard was 'burning,''' Tracy said. ``That's not the best choice of words to be using when you're talking about an elbow. He does have some swelling.''

The worst-case scenario for Gagne and the Dodgers would be season-ending surgery, but Gagne said he isn't thinking about that. In the meantime, reliever Yhency Brazoban will return to the closer role he filled during Gagne's previous absence. Brazoban converted 11 of 12 save opportunities.

--Bitterness time: Jose Lima, who last fall gave the Dodgers their only postseason victory since 1988, will start tonight for the Royals holding quite a grudge. He lashed out at his former club Tuesday, saying the Dodgers' front office never made a serious attempt to re-sign him.

Lima, who claims he was offered only a one-year, $1 million deal by the Dodgers before the club declined to offer him arbitration, signed a one-year, $2.5 million contract with the Royals.

``(The Dodgers) said they had no money to sign me,'' Lima said. ``Well, this is a small-budget team, and they gave me $2.5 million. I probably made the Dodgers another $5 million by keeping them alive in the playoffs so they could have one more home game.''

In fact, the Dodgers' best offer to Lima was more in the $1.5 million range.

``I don't want to criticize anyone or point fingers, but it was (owner Frank) McCourt and the general manager,'' Lima said. ``It wasn't Jim Tracy or (pitching coach) Jim Colborn. They probably wanted me there because they needed me in the clubhouse. I know it's a totally different clubhouse now because I'm not there.''

Told of Lima's comments, Dodgers general manager Paul DePodesta took the proverbial high road.

``He contributed an awful lot to this organization,'' DePodesta said. ``We would never have closed the door on having him here. I know I'm not alone when I say a lot of us root for him every time he takes the mound, except for (tonight). We're all following what he's doing, and we're all rooting for him.''

-- Izturis in the lead: Dodgers' shortstop Cesar Izturis jumped ahead of St. Louis' David Eckstein for the starting spot on the National League All-Star team. Izturis has 469,967 votes and Eckstein trails by a little over 11,500.