BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : DODGERS : Game-Losing Homer Is End for Seanez

The Dodgers designated reliever Rudy Seanez for assignment Friday and purchased the contract of Jim Bruske, 30, who was 7-5 with a 3.81 earned-run average at triple-A Albuquerque.

The Dodgers now have 10 days to trade Seanez, outright him to Albuquerque or release him. Considering that Seanez is earning $350,000 this season and has a guaranteed contract for $650,000 next season, Seanez is expected to clear waivers and be placed on the Albuquerque roster. Seanez has the right to declare for free agency, but he would forfeit his guaranteed money.

Seanez was 1-3 with a 6.75 ERA. He yielded a 8.84 ERA in his last 18 outings, including Charlie Hayes’ game-winning homer Thursday night against the Phillies.

“He just couldn’t get anybody out,” Manager Tom Lasorda said. “He just lost the feel of the point of release. We tried to put him in a role where we would build up his confidence, but that didn’t work.

“Naturally, we had to make a change.”

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The Dodgers had a 25-minute meeting with pitchers and catchers before the game to discuss pitch selection in the aftermath of Hayes’ home run.

The Dodgers have been hurt too frequently by throwing the wrong pitch in the wrong situation, the coaches said, and want to remedy the problem with the staff and catcher Mike Piazza.

“It’s no big deal,” Piazza said. “It’s not like you have to be a rocket scientist. We just need to make smarter pitches.”

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Kevin Tapani pitched on the side Friday with little difficulty from his strained left quadriceps muscle and will make his start Sunday. “As Siskel and Ebert would say,” Tapani said, “two thumbs up.” . . . While several of the Dodgers didn’t take Lasorda’s 2 a.m. curfew seriously when it was imposed after losing three in a row to the New York Mets, they can vouch it was more than a public relations stunt. Several players have been getting phone calls late at night just to make sure they were in their rooms. “I got my call,” second baseman Delino DeShields said. “I mean, it’s not like you make a habit of staying out past 2, anyway, so it’s no big deal.” . . . Dodger first baseman Eric Karros on Phillie outfielder Jim Eisenreich, who has a career .434 average against the Dodgers: “We need to trade for him. I’m serious. We need to get the guy just to keep him from killing us.”