Nomar Garciaparra hopes to play soon

"I don't want to waste his time," said Garciaparra, who re-sprained the medial collateral ligament in his left knee on Wednesday night.

Garciaparra said he was hopeful of playing again in a couple of days and that he was told by the Dodgers' medical staff that spraining that ligament last month might have loosened parts of his knee and prevented damage in other areas.

"I definitely got lucky," he said.

DeWitt saves the day

The Dodgers nearly lost Thursday's game in the 10th inning, but a heads-up play by rookie second baseman Blake DeWitt kept them alive.

With one out and men on first and second. Pitcher Chan Ho Park fielded a weak comebacker by Jason Michaels and threw to second to start a double play.

One problem: No one was there.

DeWitt made a diving catch to prevent the ball from sailing into center field and immediately got up and threw home to nail Nyjer Morgan. Catcher Russell Martin short-hopped the throw and was bowled over by Morgan but held onto the ball.

"I got lucky on that play, for sure," DeWitt said.

The shortstop usually covers second base on comebackers, but because the ball was hit to the third base side of the mound, Angel Berroa broke to cover third while third baseman Casey Blake made a move toward the ball.

"I should've been covering second base," DeWitt said. "I got a learning experience from it."

Proctor back

Sidelined for more than two months because of elbow trouble, recently activated Scott Proctor said he felt like the pitcher he used to be.

With the Dodgers and Pirates tied at 3-3, Manager Joe Torre called on Proctor to pitch the 11th inning. Proctor retired the side.

"The whole reason you play this game is to get on the field in this situation," Proctor said.

Proctor, who had a 6.82-earned-run average when he was placed on the disabled list in June, also pitched 1 2/3 innings Wednesday.

Manny ripped by Schilling . . . again

Manny Ramirez was ripped Wednesday afternoon on a Boston radio station by former Red Sox teammate Curt Schilling, who accused him of being disrespectful to his teammates.