A day after he was blasted for six runs in three innings, Dodgers pitcher Brad Penny was placed on the 15-day disabled list for the second time with the same right shoulder stiffness that put him there in June.

Penny received a cortisone shot on Thursday and will not throw for five days.  The team is uncertain on when Penny will return and Penny described the pain as “exactly the same” as the pain that was diagnosed as tendinitis and landed him on the DL for two months.

Penny is 6-9 with a 6.09 ERA and is headed into a club option year worth $9.25 million which the club could buy out for $2 million.

Also, the Dodgers placed reliever Cory Wade on the 15-day disabled list with shoulder stiffness.  The move was retroactive to August 9 with Wade’s last pitching one inning on August 8 against the Giants.  Wade is 2-1 with a 2.56 ERA in 40 appearances this season.

To replace Penny and Wade, the Dodgers recalled Eric Stults and Tanyon Sturtzefrom Triple-A Las Vegas.  Stults made six starts in June and July for the Dodgers and went 2-2 with a 3.18 ERA.  Sturtze pitched for Joe Torre as a member of the Yankees from 2004 to 2006 and spent all of 2007 in the Atlanta Braves’ Minor League system.  The 37-year old Sturtze has a 40-44 lifetime record with a 5.21 ERA in 269 appearances.

Torre was non-committal on who Penny’s replacement would be in the rotation.  Penny’s next start falls on Monday which is an off-day which gives the manager the option of skipping Penny’s turn.

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Thursday’s medical exam of pitcher Dan Giese revealed rotator cuff tendinitis and the Yankees are expected to put him on the 15-day disabled list on Friday. 

The 31-year old rookie left Wednesday’s game after 15 pitches in relief of starter Darrell Rasner.  He gave up a hit and then walked the bases loaded before exiting with the injury.

Giese — 1-3 with a 2.58 ERA in 15 games — was scheduled to start on Tuesday in Toronto which creates a hole in the Yankees’ rotation. 

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Ronald Blum of the Associated Press reported the Opening Day dates for the inaugural stadium openings for the Yankees and Mets.

According to an anonymous baseball official, the Mets will open Citi Field on Tuesday, April 14 against the San Diego Padres.  The Yankees will follow two days later at new Yankee Stadium on Thursday, April 16 against the Cleveland Indians.

The report also detailed the opening and ending dates of the season.  The 2009 season is scheduled to open with a Sunday night telecast on ESPN on April 5 and end on October 4 setting the season up for a possible November 5 ending — the latest in Major League history.