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Dodgers have high hopes for Kershaw

Apr 9, 2009 - 6:38 AM By Brett Huston Stats Wrietr

LA Dodgers (2-1) at San Diego (1-2), 3:35 p.m. EDT

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- The Los Angeles Dodgers didn't waste much time keeping Clayton Kershaw in the minor leagues, bringing their latest young pitching star up in May and watching him encounter some ups-and-downs as he adjusted to the majors.

They're hoping to see more of his phenom side this season.

Kershaw will make his 2009 debut Thursday afternoon when the visiting Dodgers wrap up their series with the San Diego Padres looking for a third win in four games.

Kershaw (5-5, 4.26 ERA) was the youngest player in the majors when he was called up on May 24, and the seventh overall pick of the 2006 draft made his debut a day later despite having little over a year of minor-league experience.

It took him two months and 10 starts to pick up his first win, but following an 0-3 start with a 5.18 ERA in his first nine outings, Kershaw settled down. He went 5-2 with a 3.68 ERA the rest of the way, striking out 65 in 66 innings and limiting opponents to a paltry .241 average.

The Dodgers (2-1) saw Kershaw's inconsistent side again in the spring, when he had a 4.55 ERA in eight starts. What they also saw, though, was a changeup that's quickly becoming the 21-year-old's out pitch.

"The key thing for me with the changeup is that they're making contact early in the count and I'm getting out of innings quicker," Kershaw told the team's official Web site. "Last year, I didn't stay in games long enough, I needed too many pitches."

He may not have much trouble shutting down the Padres (1-2), who were last in the majors in runs (3.93 per game) last season and haven't gotten better in their first three games. San Diego has seven runs on 14 hits thus far, and managed only three singles Wednesday in a 5-2 loss to Los Angeles.

Kershaw made three starts against the Padres last season, including a pair at home in September. He won both of those, allowing three runs in 12 2-3 innings while striking out 13.

The Dodgers put up six combined runs in their first two games with just one hit from Manny Ramirez, but the 12-time All-Star - who hit .396 in 53 regular-season games after coming over from Boston last season - was back in form on Wednesday. He broke open a 2-2 tie in the seventh with a double that drove in two, giving him 17 RBIs in 12 games against the Padres since he joined Los Angeles.

"What we did today means nothing tomorrow, and you've got to move on," Ramirez said. "What's done is done."

The Dodgers are expected to sit shortstop Rafael Furcal in favor of Blake DeWitt against Padres starter Kevin Correia (3-8, 6.05), but they may not miss Furcal that much. Correia, who spent his first six seasons in the majors with San Francisco, was removed from the Giants' rotation in September and didn't fare any better (17.05 ERA) in five appearances out of the bullpen.

The San Diego native is 1-1 with a 5.19 ERA in his last three starts against the Dodgers.

The Padres, meanwhile, need some offense from Adrian Gonzalez. The first baseman drove in 119 runs - third in the NL - last season, but he's still looking for his first RBI in 2009.

Gonzalez is 2-for-8 with four strikeouts in his career against Kershaw.

Third baseman Chase Headley, however, is 3-for-6 against the young right-hander. Headley is struggling early, though, racking up five strikeouts in 12 at-bats.