Dodgers report Casey Blake’s pain tied to spinal inflammation

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The doctor who evaluated Casey Blake believes the rear ribcage discomfort that has sidelined the third baseman since Saturday likely resulted from inflammation around his lower thoracic spine ‘that radiates to the rib area,’ the Dodgers said Tuesday.

Blake, 37, “has improved” and the doctor, Robert Watkins Jr., reported that Blake could return to playing again “as he tolerates,” the team said.

There was no sign that Blake’s oblique or intercostal muscles were strained when he suffered the injury while running out a sacrifice bunt Saturday in a Cactus League game against the San Francisco Giants, the Dodgers said.

Earlier Tuesday, Blake told reporters at the Dodgers’ Camelback Ranch facility that he ‘felt a little better, but I still feel it,’ and he gave no timetable for his return. He’s been listed as day-to-day for returning to action.

--Jim Peltz in Phoenix