Guerrero Is Slapped by NL for Illegal Bat

HOUSTON — It was just another slow news day for the Dodgers.

They lost their best outfielder, Raul Mondesi, indefinitely because of a shoulder injury; activated their best leadoff hitter, Brett Butler, who has missed 24 games with a shoulder injury; and lost their best rookie, Wilton Guerrero, because of an eight-game suspension for using a corked bat.

Butler, who made a remarkable comeback after having cancerous tumors removed from his tonsils last year, was activated after Mondesi sprained his left shoulder and the little finger on his left hand Monday night. Meanwhile, the Dodgers lost for the 11th time in 15 games, 2-0, to the Houston Astros before 16,227 at the Astrodome.

“I’ve been doing this for 17 years, and after 4 1/2 months [following cancer surgery] I was able to come back and contribute, at least for five days last time,” Butler said. “I felt good in the spring, and I felt like I was swinging the bat well when I got hurt.

“It’s a no-lose situation for me. I wasn’t expected to come back and play. It seems like it’s no different now than it was then.”

Dodger Manager Bill Russell said he hopes Butler will help revive the team.

“He’s always been the catalyst for our club and that’s what we need now,” Russell said after the Dodgers were shut out for the third time this season and fell to .500. “He’s still one of the best leadoff men in the game. That’s what he was doing before he got hurt and, hopefully, he’ll do it again.”

Mondesi, who leads the Dodgers in home runs (11) and RBIs (31), was injured during a head-first slide when he tried to re-tag third base after Todd Zeile hit into a fielder’s choice. Mondesi, who had a look of agony on his face, had a red shoulder and a swollen finger when he entered the clubhouse after the game.

“I did it when I hit the base,” he said. “I landed funny.”

Mondesi was examined by Astro physician Tom Mehlhoff after Monday’s game and will be evaluated before today’s game against the Astros.

Guerrero, who admitted using a corked bat in Sunday’s 6-1 win at St. Louis, was suspended for eight games and fined $1,000 by National League President Leonard Coleman before Monday’s game.

That upset the Dodger lineup.

Russell took Guerrero, who succeeded Butler as the leadoff hitter, out of the lineup after learning of the suspension. The manager reinstated him after the Major League Baseball Players Assn. said it would appeal on Guerrero’s behalf because the Dodgers did not plan to pay his salary during the suspension.

But Russell removed him once more when the Players Assn. dropped the appeal after the Dodgers were informed that the collective bargaining agreement requires suspended players to be paid. Guerrero, who reportedly earns $150,000, the major league minimum, would have lost $7,407 if the Dodgers had withheld his salary.

“It’s been all over the news, and when something happens like that everybody will know Wilton Guerrero now for a while until it dies down,” Russell said. “That’s just the nature of the business. It’s something that he has to live with.

“He’s our everyday second baseman and it’s going to be tough to replace him. He was hitting .290.”

Russell, who plans to platoon Juan Castro and Nelson Liriano at second during Guerrero’s suspension, started Castro against the Astros. The Dodgers won’t be able to replace Guerrero on their 25-man roster, and Eddie Williams was optioned to Albuquerque to make room for Butler, who will resume his spot as the leadoff hitter.

“It’s not going to be the answer to our problems,” said Eric Karros, who was two for three against the Astros. “He’s not going to come back and all of a sudden we’re going to score a lot of runs.”

Dodger pitcher Hideo Nomo, who had his own media contingent in 1995, was lost in the shuffle Monday.

Nomo (5-5), who had never lost more than two consecutive decisions, lost his third in a row, giving up two runs on six hits in six-plus innings before he was relieved by Antonio Osuna after giving up a two-out seventh-inning double to Craig Ausmus.

Ausmus is five for nine against Nomo.

Nomo is 1-5 with a 4.93 earned-run average against the Astros.

Guerrero will be able to take batting practice and participate in fielding drills before games. But he’s not allowed to sit in the dugout during games and must vacate the clubhouse after batting practice.

“I have learned of my penalty from the league office and I accept it with full responsibility,” Guerrero said in a statement released by the Dodgers. “I will say once again, as I said yesterday, I apologize to my team, to the league and to all of baseball.”