DODGERS NOTEBOOK: SANCHEZ IS SETUP FOR FAILURE.

Byline: Tony Jackson  Staff Writer

Coinciding with the news of two weeks ago that Eric Gagne will be lost for the season, de facto Dodgers setup man Duaner Sanchez appears to have hit the skids.

The right-hander walked two of the first three batters he faced in the eighth inning on Saturday, then balked home Luis Gonzalez from third to give Arizona a 7-5 lead the Dodgers couldn't overcome.

Over his past three appearances, Sanchez has allowed four earned runs in 2 2/3 innings, with three unintentional walks, a wild pitch and a balk. He also has allowed the two runners he has inherited, both from Kelly Wunsch, to score.

``It's probably something mechanical,'' Sanchez said. ``Sometimes, I go too quick to the plate and don't get my arm out in front of me. I got my rhythm back later in that inning, but I need to get my rhythm from the beginning.''

--Injury update: Although outfielder Milton Bradley still isn't close to returning from an injury he suffered on May 29 that was supposed to sideline him for only three to four weeks, club officials still aren't discussing the ``S'' word.

``I haven't heard surgery mentioned,'' manager Jim Tracy said.

Bradley took dry swings on Friday but experienced pain in his right ring finger, where he has a torn ligament, when he swung at balls late last week. He isn't expected to swing a bat at all until Monday, although Bradley reported no pain after Friday's activity.

Tracy said Cesar Izturis (tight right hamstring) probably won't return before Monday.

--Scheduling quirk: Given that the Dodgers are flying to Colorado after tonight's game, which starts at 7:10, it would have seemed more more logical to have played a night game with postgame fireworks on Saturday and a traditional Sunday afternoon game today. Instead, after playing tonight the team will likely arrive in Denver in the wee hours of Monday morning in advance of a 6:05 p.m. start, local time, at Coors Field.

The reason the two games were scheduled this way was, of course, because of television.

``(Saturday's game) was in the Fox window,'' said Dodgers vice president John Olguin, referring to the network's right before the season to designate a handful of games each Saturday during the season which it might select for national broadcast, meaning those games must be played in the afternoon.

The Dodgers couldn't have scheduled a twilight game tonight - which would have given the club an earlier start on its travels and still ended late enough for postgame fireworks - because ESPN has exclusive rights to the Sunday 5 p.m. slot, Olguin said.