LOS ANGELES -- Dodgers pitcher Kevin Brown was placed on the 15-day disabled list Saturday for the fourth time in 13 months.

	Brown

The move was made a retroactive to April 14, the day after the five-time All-Star right-hander left a start in San Diego with torn scar tissue and residual swelling in his surgically repaired elbow.

"The inflammation in his elbow when he came in here today is exactly where it was yesterday -- no worse, but no better," manager Jim Tracy said. "But we're not going to push the envelope on this and continue looking any further at next Wednesday at Pittsburgh as the day he would pitch again."

As Tracy discussed his ace's health about two hours before the start of the Dodgers' game against San Diego, Brown played catch in the outfield with bullpen coach Jim Lett.

The possibility of a minor league rehab start hasn't been discussed by Tracy and his staff.

"It's not even a shutdown," Tracy pointed out. "It's just a progression, pointing him toward the Tuesday after the off-day in Cincinnati. But is that a guarantee? Is that etched in stone? No, it's not. We'll see how it goes and how his elbow responds from session to session as they build his workload back up."

Brown, in the fourth season of a $105 million, seven-year contract, went on the DL three times last season.

The 16-year veteran couldn't start the 2001 campaign on time because of a strained right Achilles' tendon. He missed three weeks in June due to an irritated nerve in his neck, then was sidelined in more than five weeks by a severely sprained flexor muscle, which led to surgery Sept. 27.

Saturday's move was so they could add someone to pitch long relief and not adversely affect the rest of the bullpen and their specific roles.

"I don't think the elbow is an issue. The only issue I think is that we can't afford having somebody else on the pitching staff get hurt," said Brown, who is 1-1 with a 5.11 ERA in three starts. "If that's what they feel the situation is, I can't argue with that.

"I feel good, but it is not something I can put a guarantee on. I personally can't tell there's anything. All that matters to me is how I feel on the mound. That's what I hold onto. If I throw off the mound and feel good the next day, that's what I'll go by."

Replacing Brown on the roster will be right-hander Guillermo Mota, who was recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas.

Mota created a stir March 28 when plunked the New York Mets' Mike Piazza in the backside with a 3-0 pitch. When Mota passed the Mets' bench on his way to the clubhouse in the middle of the eighth, Piazza grabbed him by the shirt and the benches cleared after the two shoved each other.