Smith’s status hangs over Dodgers’ heads

Catcher ‘up in the air’ for start of the postseason as L.A. turns to Rortvedt and clinches series over Giants.

- By Jack Harris

GINA FERAZZI Los Angeles Times TOMMY EDMAN takes his trot around the bases for his goahead solo home run as he broke out of a slump Saturday night.

Seventeen days later, the Dodgers finally know what's wrong with Will Smith’s hand.

On Saturday, ahead of a 7-5 win against the San Francisco Giants, manager Dave Roberts announced that Smith has a hairline fracture in his right hand and is doubtful to return before the end of the regular season.

The Dodgers are “hopeful” of having Smith available for the postseason, Roberts said, but whether he will be ready for the very start of the playoffs — which will likely be Sept. 30 — remains “up in the air.”

In a week that has seen the Dodgers now win four straight games (making them 10-3 in their last 13) and lower their magic number to clinch the National League West to three, the latest development in Smith’s hand saga has been the only dark cloud that won't go away.

A three-time All-Star catcher who led the National League in batting average in the first half of the season before slumping through August, Smith first got hurt when a foul ball hit his dangling throwing hand behind the plate on Sept. 3 in Pittsburgh.