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Schmidt leaves with injury in Dodgers debut

Apr 10, 2007 - 4:04 AM LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- Jason Schmidt and the Los Angeles Dodgers would soon like to forget their home opener.

Schmidt left the game with a right hamstring injury in the fifth inning of the Dodgers' 6-3 loss to the Colorado Rockies.

Making his first home start as a member of the Dodgers, Schmidt (1-1) sustained the injury while attempting to cover first base on a ground ball by Kaz Matsui.

Fortunately for the Dodgers and Schmidt, it was just a brief scare.

"He just had a cramp and a little bit of dehydration," Los Angeles manager Grady Little said. "He'll be fine."

"It's definitely not a pull," Dodgers trainer Stan Conte said. "I don't see any reason why he won't be ready for his next start."

Schmidt, who signed a three-year, $47 million free-agent contract in December, allowed four runs - three earned - in five-plus innings and struck out five before leaving.

"It's one of my favorite places to pitch, Dodger Stadium," Schmidt said. "It was pretty amped up and rowdy. It's a great ball park."

"To beat him, it shows a lot about our ballclub," Colorado starting pitcher Jeff Francis said. "He can be awfully tough out there."

Schmidt hit his seventh homer of his career in the third, which tied the game at 1-1.

"That's not something that happens a lot," Francis said. "When it does, you just shake it off. It's just a mistake."

Francis (1-0) pitched well into the seventh inning and Garrett Atkins hit his first home run of the season and had three RBI for Rockies, who were just 2-8 in Los Angeles last year.

"We had a rough year out here last year," Francis said. "We've got guys who battle and pick each other up. We expect to win every time out."

Colorado's Jeff Baker went 3-4 and has hit in all five of the games he's played, including three as a pinch hitter.

"He's like a sixth man in basketball for us right now," Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said. "He's had good discipline, good swings and he's squaring around and seeing the ball."

Los Angeles, which has lost five of its last six home openers, had just three runners in scoring position through eight innings. The 3-4-5 hitters went 1-for-13 against Francis.

"We didn't get much out of the middle of our lineup today," Little said.

"For us, it doesn't feel like Opening Day," Dodgers second baseman Jeff Kent said. "We've been on the road for a week. It was great to be able to play in front of a home crowd."

Two relievers threw scoreless innings before closer Brian Fuentes surrendered one run in the ninth after loading the bases with no outs.

"Anything can happen," Dodgers catcher Russ Martin said. "We had the tying run at the plate. We just didn't come through."

The Dodgers also lost right fielder Matt Kemp, who crashed hard into the wall attempting to make a catch on Baker's RBI triple in the fourth inning. Kemp was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital for X-rays.

"I feel all right," Kemp said. "My shoulder is a little sore. I hit the wall hard. I thought I had the ball in my glove. At first I thought it was worse. The X-rays were negative. I'll be day-to-day."

Atkins home run gave Colorado en early 1-0 lead. Colorado scored two runs in the fourth on Baker's RBI triple and rookie Troy Tulowitzki's had an RBI single in the frame. Atkins added two sacrifice flies and rookie Chris Iannetta added another to make the score 6-2.