DODGERS NOTEBOOK: QUESTION STRIKES A NERVE.

Byline: Tony Jackson Staff Writer

PHOENIX - One day after walking off the mound in the first inning because of forearm tightness, Dodgers right-hander Brad Penny was back to his old, gruff self Thursday.

``It's not nerve symptoms,'' he said. ``Now can I get dressed?''

Indeed, team medical officials ruled out any possible connection between the discomfort Penny felt Wednesday and the biceps nerve injury that sidelined him for much of last season and the first three weeks of this year.

Dodgers manager Jim Tracy said Penny won't make his next scheduled start on Monday night against Pittsburgh and that he hasn't yet decided when Penny will make another start.

``He's going to pitch, but I'm not sure which day,'' Tracy said. ``He will pitch a game between now and the season's end.''

But general manager Paul DePodesta was a bit more cautious.

``We may not have him go out there again,'' DePodesta said. ``If we feel there is a significant risk, we definitely won't.''

If Penny doesn't start again, he will cost himself a $25,000 salary bonus that becomes automatic when he reaches 180 innings. To date, he has pitched 175 1/3.

DePodesta said club officials knew before Wednesday's game that Penny was having trouble getting loose in the bullpen and that they wouldn't wait long to get him out of the game if he felt any discomfort.

Penny also experienced shoulder tightness in the first inning of his previous start on Friday night at San Francisco, but settled in and pitched six innings. DePodesta said there was no connection between the shoulder issue and the forearm tightness.

--WBC dreams: Dodgers closer Eric Gagne, who has begun his flat-ground throwing program after season-ending elbow surgery in June, said he hopes to compete for his native Canada in next spring's World Baseball Classic, which would mean he would pitch in that competition before pitching for the Dodgers.