HOUSTON -- It has become something of a ritual lately with the Dodgers, with every piece of good news tempered by some bad news.
One night they don't get one hit, for example, which is bad news. But they still win, which is good news. Another night they blow a five-run lead in the span of three outs, which is bad news. But they come back to win in extra innings, which is good news.
And so it went Wednesday, when right-hander Hiroki Kuroda came off the disabled list to throw seven shutout innings at the Houston Astros in a 4-1 win that moved the Dodgers to within 1 1/2 games of division-leading Arizona, the closest they've been to first place since early April.
Only that became nothing more than the silver lining on the black cloud which began descending on the Dodgers in the third inning. That's when trainer Stan Conte gave Manager Joe Torre the bad news that sparkplug shortstop Rafael Furcal will undergo back surgery today. And with less than three months left in the season, there's no guarantee he'll play again this year.
"Just from all the numbers that I've heard, I think it's probably a minimum of eight weeks," Torre said.
It has already been that long since Furcal, the team's offensive leader, played in a major league game. He went on the disabled list May 6 and though he appeared close to coming back several times since, he lasted only four innings in a minor league rehab game Monday before waking up in pain again Tuesday.
So with rest, massage and exercises obviously not getting the job done, Dr. Robert Watkins, who examined Furcal on Wednesday, elected to perform a microdiscectomy on the player's lower left back this morning. In most cases the procedure involves the removal of a small portion of the bone over the nerve root to relieve pressure.
"It's a blow. But it's reality," said Torre, whose team was four games over .500 and averaging nearly 5 1/2 runs with Furcal in the lineup. They're 22-30 and scoring two fewer runs per game without him.
In June, the only full month the Dodgers were without Furcal, they scored only 84 runs in 27 games, worst in the majors.
"It's frustrating. And from what I understand, he's ready to just do this and get it done and basically get it over with," Torre said. "We anticipate this will solve everything."
Furcal, who was bothered by ankle problems last year, also missed the last two weeks because of a sore back. And after a winter spent on rehab and conditioning, he got off to a fast start, batting .366 with 34 runs scored in 32 games before his back seized up again.
