DODGERS NOTEBOOK: OSUNA'S SURGERY LEAVES ANOTHER GAP TO FILL.

Byline: Brian Dohn Staff Writer

The Dodgers finally got their way when right-hander Antonio Osuna succumbed to the pain in his pitching elbow and agreed to have ``Tommy John'' surgery today, but it doesn't help their situation next season.

The lack of a complementary set-up man to Alan Mills plagued the Dodgers all season. Osuna was supposed to fill that role. And now with Osuna out for approximately a year, it means the Dodgers must fill the void with someone else.

``The bullpen is something we want to improve on,'' Dodgers general manager Kevin Malone said. ``I'm not saying the bullpen is our only problem. For a long stretch of the season, the bullpen was pitching well.''

Finding another set-up man is paramount to the success of a bullpen, not to mention the team. It's the formula the Yankees used in winning the World Series when they used their bullpen to shorten games to six or seven innings.

By contrast, the Dodgers used a mix-and-match of six rookies out of the bullpen this season. That put an enormous burden on Mills and lefty Pedro Borbon. The two are tops in games pitched on the club at 62 and 64, respectively.

The bullpen also entered Wednesday's game against Montreal with a league-worst 12 wins against 21 losses. They had a combined 4.01 ERA. Their last win was Aug. 20, when Mills was the winner at Philadelphia.

``It's just another role we have to fill, but we like the way Matt Herges has been throwing,'' Malone said. ``We're going to look to shore up the bullpen, but I think Herges has opened some eyes.''

Not in job description: In Kevin Brown's last two starts, the Dodgers have been outscored 6-1, had three hits and gone through stretches of having 16 straight retired against the Mets and 17 consecutive batters set down by 23-year-old Montreal righty Javier Vazquez.

After Vazquez one-hit the Dodgers on Tuesday, Brown was asked if the Dodgers had the right approach at the plate.

``When they make me the hitting coach, I'll worry about it then,'' Brown said. ``Until then, I'll do my job.''

Just so you know, Brown is 5 for 73 (.068) with two RBI this season.

Batten down the hatches: When Hurricane Georges rolled through the Dominican Republic last summer, the Dodgers' Campos Las Palmas took an enormous hit. There was substantial damage. The complex braced for Hurricane Floyd this week but was spared when nature's fury took a turn away from the Dominican Republic.

According to Geudy Guerrero, a security guard at Campos Las Palmas, rain fell at the complex, but there was no damage. ``This hurricane was far away from the coast, it was nothing in comparison to Georges,'' Guerrero said.

Hurricane Floyd also forced the closing of Dodgertown, spring-training home of the Dodgers, in Vero Beach, Fla. There was no word from the Dodgers on whether the storm did any damage, but reports said the Florida coastline didn't take a direct hit and serious damage was avoided.

FYI: Triple-A catcher Hector Ortiz is with the Dodgers in case of an emergency. Teams usually call up a third catcher for September in case of injury. But the Dodgers won't activate Ortiz unless either Todd Hundley or Paul LoDuca are hurt because Ortiz isn't on the 40-man roster. . . . Manny Mota was honored before the game for 30 years of service to the Dodgers organization.

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2 photos

PHOTO (1) Antonio Osuna

(2) Kevin Brown