Kyle Lohse and the Milwaukee Brewers appear to have dodged a bullet.
Lohse dislocated his left pinky finger on a freakish play but x-rays were negative, and the Brewers are hopeful he won't miss his next scheduled start Sunday in Los Angeles.
"Hopefully we got lucky, but it looks good," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. " . . . He's moving around now, so he should be fine."
Dropping down a sacrifice bunt in the top of the sixth inning of Milwaukee's 7-1 victory over San Diego, Lohse dislocated his left pinky finger on the side of Padres second baseman Jedd Gyorko, who was covering first base on the bunt.
Brewers athletic trainer Dan Wright came onto the field to try and put Lohse's finger back into place but was unable to do it and the right-hander had to leave the game.
"I feel fine," Lohse said. "I've done it before. This time it just wouldn't go back in. I tried out there immediately because I knew what happened. Dan tried and it wasn't going back in so they had to numb it up to get it back in. No damage other than just dislocated."
Though Lohse has never dislocated a finger during baseball season, he was confident in saying he shouldn't miss his next start because he's seen how he's responded to previously dislocated fingers.
"It will be fine," Lohse said. "I think it will probably be swollen for a few days, but because I've done so many times I think it will be fine.
Lohse was rolling toward his fourth consecutive quality start with the Brewers, allowing just one earned run on five hits in five innings. The bullpen picked up the final four innings in Milwaukee's eight straight victory, giving Lohse his first victory of the season.
Signed to a three-year, $33 million contract one week before Opening Day, Lohse has been sharp in every outing for the Brewers and has a 2.52 ERA in 25 innings.
Following the game Monday, Roenicke announced he will keep rookie right-hander Hiram Burgos in the rotation, bumping every other starter back a day because off the off day Thursday. Burgos will now start Friday, Wily Peralta will pitch Saturday and Lohse is scheduled for Sunday.
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