LOS ANGELES Brown to miss start

The pitcher suffered a lower abdominal strain while running the bases.
COMBINED DISPATCHES
LOS ANGELES -- Kevin Brown will skip his scheduled start on Tuesday because of a lower abdominal strain, the latest setback for the Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander.
Brown was injured Thursday night in the fourth inning of his 7-4 loss to San Diego while running from first to third on a double by Wilkin Ruan. He scored on an infield hit, then pitched one more inning before taking himself out. An MRI on Friday confirmed the diagnosis.
Dodgers manager Jim Tracy is hopeful that Brown will not have to miss more than one start. His next outing is scheduled for July 13 at Colorado, the day before the All-Star break.
"He was very sore yesterday. He's better today, but we're not taking a chance on Tuesday. So we're shooting for the 13th," Tracy said.
"If it continues to get better, it might give him an opportunity to throw on the side and see how it feels -- so he can either back off from there or go ahead and finish his next outing, versus having to be walked off the mound in the second inning and risk losing him for a period of time."
Disabled list veteran
Brown has been on the disabled list six times since signing a seven-year, $105 million free agent contract with the Dodgers in December 1998. But the 17-year veteran has bounced back from two injury-shortened seasons to go 10-4 with a 2.30 ERA, second in the NL entering Saturday.
He appeared to be a shoo-in to make his sixth All-Star appearance on July 15 by going 9-0 in a span of 10 starts before his current three-game losing streak.
"He's very deserving to be on that team, obviously," Tracy said. "As far as his availability to pitch in that game, right now I'd say 50-50 because of the schedule and when he's scheduled to pitch for this club. So it'll be tough. I'm going to wait 48 hours from now, when I know a lot more about his condition than I do today."
Wilson Alvarez, who had been pitching out of the bullpen since his recall from Triple-A Las Vegas on June 4, will make his first NL start since 1997 with San Francisco. The 12-year veteran has made 234 career starts, including 10 last season with Tampa Bay.
Red Sox eye Ashby
The Boston Red Sox, who have struggled to find rotation depth beyond Pedro Martinez, Derek Lowe and Tim Wakefield, have expressed interest in Dodger pitcher Andy Ashby, but with Brown in limbo, the Dodgers are not eager to trade Ashby.
Talks between the teams might heat up if the Red Sox were willing to part with second baseman Todd Walker, who is batting .303 with eight home runs and 48 RBI, but Boston has been looking to trade utility player Jeremy Giambi, and the Dodgers have no interest in him.
Giambi, an outfielder/first baseman, is batting .173 with five home runs and 13 RBI in 43 games and is considered a below-average defensive player.
Ashby, who took Darren Dreifort's rotation spot in early June, is 2-4 with a 4.64 ERA.