LOS ANGELES -- Kevin Brown was placed on the 15-day disabled list Monday with discomfort in his right elbow.

	Kevin Brown Starting Pitcher Los Angeles Dodgers Profile
	2002 SEASON STATISTICS GM W L BB K ERA 9 2 3 11 38 4.06

It was the second time that the Los Angeles Dodgers' ace has gone on the DL since undergoing surgery last Sept. 27 to repair a torn flexor muscle. Brown left Sunday's game at Arizona after just 20 pitches. In his previous outing at Milwaukee, he threw a season-high 106.

The five-time All-Star was examined by Dr. Frank Jobe, who determined that Brown's latest problem was a posterior medial sprain in the back of his elbow -- not the area that was operated on last Sept. 27 to repair a torn flexor muscle. But at least he won't require surgery.

``The specific diagnosis is hard to come by because it doesn't hurt exactly in one spot,'' Jobe said. ``He's got a pinched synovium, which is the lining of the joint, and maybe a sprained muscle on the back of the elbow, which causes swelling in the area and makes it difficult to pitch.''

Brown left a game on April 13 at San Diego after tearing scar tissue in his elbow and went on the DL. But Jobe said this condition isn't as bad as the previous one.

``We don't really know how he did it,'' Jobe said. ``He was feeling really good in Milwaukee, but maybe he slept on it wrong or got it pinched during the flight to Arizona. He doesn't seem to think it was one pitch yesterday that hurt him, and that's another reason to think that this is not going to need surgery to get well.''

Brown, 38, has been on the DL five times since the beginning of last season, and six times since signing a seven-year, $105 million contract in December 1998. He is 2-3 with a 4.06 ERA in nine starts. The Dodgers decided to DL him again because he would have missed at least two starts.

``I wouldn't say he's discouraged. I think he is handling it very well, but I just think he's kind of aggravated that it would happen,'' Jobe said. ``He recognizes the problem, so he's going to take it by the horns and be ready to play when the time comes.''

Omar Daal, who won both starts after replacing Brown in the rotation, again will fill the role after throwing a combined 97 pitches on Saturday and Sunday.

Brown began last season on the disabled list because of a strained right Achilles' tendon. The 16-year veteran missed three weeks in June with an irritated nerve in his neck, then was sidelined more than five weeks by the injury that required his season-ending surgery.

``It's a tough situation,'' manager Jim Tracy said. ``The way it's been put to me is that, when you've got a pitcher who is competing after having gone through a rehab, they go through peaks and valleys.

``But they get back up to a peak where you hope they level off. So it is a cause for concern, just because of the domino effect that it has. Kevin Brown understands all that, but that doesn't make it any easier.''

To replace Brown on the roster, the team called up right-hander Bryan Corey from Triple-A Las Vegas. Corey was expected to arrive in time to help a relief corps that burned up 10 innings Sunday after Brown left the game.

Corey, who appeared in three games with Arizona in 1998, allowed nine earned runs in 11 relief appearances with Las Vegas. The Dodgers are his fifth different organization in four years.