With Mondesi Out, Dodgers Looking Stiff

MONTREAL — Raul Mondesi was forced to leave another game because of recurring back stiffness Wednesday night.

And the center fielder’s pain compounded the Dodgers’ suffering in a 5-1 loss to the Montreal Expos at Olympic Stadium.

They struggled after their center fielder left in the third inning, dropping the second game of a three-game series before a crowd of 9,611.

“It still feels the same--bad,” said Mondesi, who doubled in his only at-bat. “I want to play but the pain . . . it’s still there.”

The Dodgers (58-56) appeared listless through six scoreless innings against Montreal starter Carl Pavano (4-5), who entered the game with a 4.95 earned-run average. Dodger starter Darren Dreifort (6-10) walked five in 5 1/3 innings, losing for the second time in three starts.

Montreal closer Ugueth Urbina earned his 25th save by pitching 1 2/3 scoreless innings.

He retired three in a row in the ninth after Roger Cedeno walked to open the inning, striking out Trenidad Hubbard with Cedeno at third to end the game. Hubbard went two for four after replacing Mondesi, driving in the Dodgers’ run with a two-out double in the seventh.

The loss spoiled the return of outfielder-infielder Bobby Bonilla, who was activated from the disabled list after sitting out 21 games because of tendinitis in his left wrist.

Bonilla started in left and moved to third in the sixth. He singled in four at-bats, and the Dodgers remained 5 1/2 games behind the Chicago Cubs in the National League wild-card race.

Former Dodger second baseman Wilton Guerrero had an infield single, scored twice and walked in four plate appearances. Guerrero also robbed Eric Young, his Dodger counterpart, of a single in the ninth with a nifty defensive play behind the bag at second.

That capped another wasted opportunity for the Dodgers.

“We’re banged up and we’re struggling right now,” Manager Glenn Hoffman said. “Chicago is losing, so hopefully we can get everybody back and get going again.”

Right fielder Gary Sheffield is at his home in St. Petersburg, Fla., serving the second game of his three-game suspension for fighting. Mondesi might be gone when he returns.

Hoffman said Mondesi won’t play today in the final game of a 10-game, three-city trip. Mondesi is scheduled to meet with a team physician in Los Angeles on Friday.

He has been sidelined for two games and left early in three others on the trip after experiencing pain last Thursday during a game at Philadelphia. The Dodgers are considering putting Mondesi on the disabled list for the first time in his five-year career.

“It’s always a possibility,” Hoffman said. “We’re going to take it day to day and see how Mondy feels.

“He’s so strong and durable. Sometimes it looks like he’s dead one day, and then he’s out there again the next day. He’s such a gamer, but I knew I had to get him out of there tonight.”

Mondesi struggled to walk in the clubhouse before the game, undergoing therapy throughout the day. He said he reinjured himself while sliding into second on his two-out double to left in the first.

“I felt like something was broken,” Mondesi said. “I don’t want to take two or three days off to rest and have the same thing keep happening every day. I think it would be better to take five or six days and get it better.

“But Sheff is not playing and I’m not playing, and that makes a difference. We’ve got a better team than [Montreal].”

The Dodgers dropped to 4-5 on the trip after their second loss in as many games to the payroll-slashing Expos.

“This is a no-no, but the bottom line is that every major league team has the chance to kick your [butt],” Bonilla said. “We’re missing some key figures right now. Sheff is not here and Mondy is not here.”

And the Dodgers aren’t the same without them.