Abreu is sidelined by injury to shoulder

VERO BEACH, FLA. — Tony Abreu’s surprising spring came to an abrupt end Saturday when the rookie infielder jammed his left shoulder sliding headfirst into second base in the seventh inning of the Dodgers’ 7-5 victory over the Houston Astros.

Abreu lay on the ground for several minutes before leaving the field in a golf cart, clutching the shoulder. An MRI exam Saturday night showed a moderate bone bruise. That injury will keep him out for the rest of spring training and perhaps as many as four weeks.

“He was in a lot of pain on the field when it happened,” Manager Grady Little said.

Abreu, 21, probably will begin the season at triple-A Las Vegas once he recovers. He had impressed the Dodgers this spring with his offense (he’s batting .394) and his versatility (he has made only one error in 15 games at second base and shortstop).

“This kid’s had a heck of a spring around here,” Little said.

An inning after Abreu left, the Dodgers scored three times to break a 4-4 tie and roll to their sixth straight Grapefruit League win and their eighth in nine games. And they again got production from the top of the order, with 1-2 hitters Rafael Furcal and Juan Pierre each getting two hits in three at-bats, with Furcal scoring twice and Pierre driving him home both times.

“The action that those two guys bring at the top of that order is going to be fun to watch,” Little said.

Furcal has sat out much of the spring because of a sore right shoulder but since returning to the lineup last week he is five for nine and has scored four times. Pierre is batting a team-high .467.

Right-hander Brett Tomko had his fourth successful outing, giving up a run and three hits. Joe Mays, competing with Tomko for the vacant spot in the Dodgers rotation, followed and gave up three runs in as many innings.

Money is no problem

Although the Dodgers’ payroll already has jumped more than $12 million to about $111 million since last season, owner Frank McCourt said Saturday that money wouldn’t be an issue if the team needed to make a deal this summer.

“We’re going to spend what it takes,” McCourt said during a 30-minute meeting with reporters. “We’ve made it very, very clear what goals we have here. [Of] the core goals, winning is at the top of the list.”

The Dodgers have reached the postseason twice in McCourt’s three seasons following a seven-year playoff drought under previous ownership. And to continue that, McCourt is not only buying players -- he spent $107 million to sign five free agents over the winter -- but developing them as well, with the Dodgers winning Baseball America’s organization-of-the-year award for 2006.

“I’m 100% committed -- as is everybody else here -- [to] winning now and winning later,” McCourt said. “To be competitive each and every year and to play in October each and every year, we need to be committed over the long haul.”

McCourt said officials in Arizona are close to deciding on an architect for the spring-training facility the Dodgers will occupy beginning in 2009. And though several details remain to be worked out, McCourt is hopeful groundbreaking can take place this summer.

Rain washes out record

The Dodgers sold a record 9,067 tickets for Friday’s game with the Boston Red Sox, but because rain halted play after 2 1/3 innings, the record won’t count. The only other time the Dodgers have drawn more than 9,000 for a game at Holman Stadium was March 10, 1991, when 9,028 showed up for an exhibition with the New York Mets.... The Dodgers wore green jerseys and caps Saturday to mark St. Patrick’s Day. The team will auction off the shirts and hats during the regular season to raise money for the Dodgers Dream Foundation.... Outfielder Jason Repko, sidelined because of a strained right groin, has resumed light running exercises but said he isn’t ready to test his leg with the kind of aggressive starting and stopping he’ll have to do once he returns to the lineup.

*

[email protected]