Kevin Brown’s fickle back is acting up again for the New York Yankees, just in time for the regular season. Eric Gagne’s elbow isn’t doing much better.

The Los Angeles Dodgers placed their closer on the 15-day disabled list Friday night with a sprained right elbow. Gagne felt soreness in the elbow — the same one repaired with Tommy John surgery in 1995 — after Thursday’s game.

“It wasn’t on any one pitch. There wasn’t a bolt of pain or any severe pain, from what I understand,” general manager Paul DePodesta said. “He had an MRI today and there’s no tear, so he is structurally sound. His soreness is over the drill holes where the surgery was done 10 years ago, but structurally, he’s in real good shape.”

Earlier, Brown left his final spring outing after three innings because he felt “stiff and achy.” Now the 39-year-old right-hander, ineffective for much of last year because of back pain, could miss his first scheduled start next week.

Brown gave up four runs and six hits in a 4-3 loss to the Detroit Tigers in Lakeland, Fla. Carlos Pena touched him up for a two-run homer and an RBI single.

“I thought I’d go ahead and get out of there before I had a chance to do any real damage,” Brown said.

He had been scheduled to make his first start next Friday against Baltimore at Yankee Stadium.

Elsewhere, Curt Schilling and Ted Lilly will start the year on the disabled list, as expected.

Schilling is still working his way back from right ankle surgery in November, so the Red Sox placed him on the 15-day DL retroactive to March 26.

“He should only miss about 10 days of the season, if everything goes according to plan,” manager Terry Francona said in Phoenix, where his team played Arizona. “His rehab is going very well.”

In other spring training games:

Diamondbacks 10, Red Sox 3

At Phoenix, Brandon Webb pitched six solid innings in his final tuneup for the regular season.

Nationals 3, Devil Rays 2

At Viera, Fla., Nick Johnson homered and Zach Day threw six strong innings for Washington.

Pirates 5, Twins 4

At Bradenton, Fla., Mark Redman had another rough outing, but Jack Wilson homered for Pittsburgh. .

Rangers 11, Rockies 7

At Albuquerque, N.M., Byung-Hyun Kim was battered in his Colorado debut, allowing six earned runs in just one-third of an inning.

Astros 8, Round Rock 2

At Round Rock, Texas, Andy Pettitte pitched five scoreless innings against Houston’s Triple-A affiliate before leaving with two runners on in the sixth.

Reds 6, Blue Jays 2

At Memphis, Tenn., Danny Graves threw a scoreless inning and Cincinnati scored five runs off Pete Walker in the first.

Marlins 11, Mets 9

At Port St. Lucie, Fla., Mark Little’s two-run homer in the ninth inning helped Florida survive New York’s five-run rally in the home half.

Brewers 7, White Sox 6

At Milwaukee, Junior Spivey homered and had three RBIs.

Orioles 3, Cardinals 1

At Oklahoma City, Bruce Chen secured the fifth spot in Baltimore’s rotation with five scoreless innings.