ROBERTS OUT UNTIL AT LEAST FRIDAY.

Byline: Tony Jackson  Staff Writer

MIAMI - Dodgers left fielder Dave Roberts, who strained his right hamstring on a stolen-base attempt in Tuesday night's victory over Florida, said he was feeling better Wednesday. But Roberts won't return to the lineup before Friday.

``Ideally, you need a couple of days of inactivity to make sure it's all right,'' Roberts said. ``It's not as tender right now as it was last night. It feels a lot better. My flexibility is good. It's just kind of sore behind the knee, right where that tendon is. Hopefully, it will only be a couple of days.''

Jason Grabowski replaced Roberts in left field, and in the leadoff spot despite the fact Grabowski entered Wednesday night's game with the Marlins hitting .125 with an on-base percentage of .192. But Dodgers manager Jim Tracy said slotting Grabowski lower in the order would have disrupted the rest of the lineup.

Tracy disputed the notion Grabowski is struggling at the plate.

``I have seen decent swings throughout,'' Tracy said. ``If you go back and assess a number of the at-bats he has had, he has hit into some awfully tough luck. There was one game where he lined out to first base on a ball hit as hard as you can hit it. And then (Tuesday) night, he drove (Marlins left fielder) Jeff Conine into the wall.''

With center fielder Milton Bradley still feeling the effects of the sprained left ankle he suffered April 21 at Colorado, and with Bradley having missed all three games of last weekend's series with Montreal, the Dodgers now have two outfielders who are hobbled. Yet they are carrying 12 pitchers, and reliever Brian Falkenborg entered the day having made one appearance and pitched two-thirds of an inning since being activated from the disabled list April 24. But Tracy said there will be no immediate roster move to add a position player.

``For the next few days, we can (stand pat),'' Tracy said. ``Beyond that, it will become somewhat uncomfortable, dealing with four (position players on the bench).''

--Johnson remembered: Jim Colborn remembers every detail of the conversation he had with Darrell Johnson on March 31, 1979. That was the day Johnson, then managing the Seattle Mariners, summoned Colborn to his office in spring training and told him he had been released, effectively ending Colborn's 10-year major-league pitching career.

``He told me I was the greatest guy he had ever met in baseball,'' said Colborn, now the Dodgers pitching coach. ``I didn't quite understand what he meant. I think he was just glad I didn't scream and yell.''

Johnson, perhaps best known for managing the Boston Red Sox to the American League pennant in 1975, died of leukemia Monday at his home in Fairfield, Calif. He was 75.

Colborn spent the second half of the 1978 season pitching for Johnson in Seattle.

``I had some fond feelings for him,'' Colborn said. ``I thought he was one of the brightest people I had ever seen in terms of pitcher-batter matchups. He had been a catcher, and he really knew how to pitch to batters and what their weaknesses were. I wasn't a very good pitcher by that time. I wish he had been around earlier, when I had more I could have worked with.''

Tony Jackson,[phone]

tony.jackson(at)dailynews.com

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- Tony Jackson