Jonathan Broxton gets the close call from Dodgers

For a day.

"He'll be the closer tonight," Torre said.

Torre said that with Saito recovering from a sprained ligament in his right elbow and facing the possibility of surgery, the 24-year-old Broxton would get "most of the opportunities" to close games. But noting that a hard thrower like Broxton -- he has been clocked at 100 mph this season -- has to be rested frequently, Torre said others could pitch in the ninth inning.

Chan Ho Park was moved out of the rotation and back into the bullpen, only not as a long reliever this time. Torre said that if Park proves he can handle pitching on back-to-back days, he will be used as a setup man or closer. Left-handers Joe Beimel and Hong-Chih Kuo also could close games if matchups are favorable.

Broxton, who had a 3.40 earned-run average at the All-Star break, entered Friday's game against Arizona with five saves in his career, none this season.

When Broxton was being interviewed by reporters Friday afternoon, Derek Lowe walked by and joked that the new role would force the soft-spoken pitcher to speak to the media more frequently.

"Doesn't matter to me," Broxton said. "It probably won't be much, but I'll talk."

New hitting coaches

Don Mattingly wasn't the only addition to the Dodgers' coaching staff Friday, when he replaced Mike Easler as hitting coach. Also on hand was Jeff Pentland, who was fired as the Seattle Mariners' hitting coach last month and hired as a roving hitting instructor in the Dodgers organization. How long Pentland will stay with the major league club remains undetermined.

"I might be up here two weeks, I might be up a month, I might be up a week," said Pentland, who worked with Andruw Jones during his rehab assignment in triple-A Las Vegas.

Johnson called up

Saito was moved to the 15-day disabled list and his place on the active roster was taken by Jason Johnson, whose contract was purchase from Las Vegas. Johnson, who pitched three innings in relief Friday, is scheduled to start in Colorado on Tuesday and take the place in the rotation that belonged to Park, who moved back into the bullpen.