Pierre to miss four to six weeks

HOUSTON -- Dodgers outfielder Juan Pierre has a sprain of the medial collateral ligament in his left knee and will be sidelined four to six weeks.

"That's better than it could have been," said manager Joe Torre. "He was expecting worse than that."

Pierre was placed on the 15-day disabled list and was replaced on the Dodgers' roster by Jason Repko, who was recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas. Repko was in the starting lineup on Monday night against the Astros, batting leadoff and playing center field.

Torre said Pierre is on crutches and will begin some form of exercise within a week. The injury is not expected to require surgery.

The 30-year-old Pierre had never been on the disabled list in a nine-year career, but he was injured in Sunday's game while making a headfirst dive while stealing second base in the sixth inning. Angels infielder Erick Aybar fell and landed on the bottom of Pierre's left leg, twisting the knee.

The MCL helps connect the thigh with the shin on the inside of the knee joint. When the leg is struck from the outside, the inside ligament stretches and tears. The injury is similar to what a football player might experience when hit low from the side.

The Dodgers now have 10 players on the disabled list -- Tony Abreu, Nomar Garciaparra, Jason Schmidt, Rafael Furcal, Gary Bennett, Andruw Jones, Hiroki Kuroda, Brad Penny, Scott Proctor and Pierre. Garciaparra, Schmidt, Furcal and Jones are currently on Minor League injury rehabilitation assignments. Furcal, Garciaparra and Penny could return within the week. Kuroda returns to the rotation Wednesday.

Repko, rebounding from two seasons of injuries, is hitting .277 with six home runs, 57 runs, 29 RBIs and 15 stolen bases. The 27-year-old spent most of the season batting below .230, but has a current six-game hitting streak during which he's batting .455 and earlier this month had a 14-game hitting streak, bringing his June average to .375.

"I started off the season thinking too much, trying to get a hit every at-bat, really pressing and all it did was put me in a tailspin," said Repko. "It wasn't until I simplified everything that I started to get comfortable playing every day."

Repko had missed most of the previous two seasons, including all of 2007 with a torn hamstring that required surgery. He said his hamstring is completely healed.