Yasiel Puig still out for Dodgers, Yasmani Grandal catches Clayton Kershaw

LOS ANGELES -- Yasiel Puig is still out of the lineup, missing his third straight game with left hamstring tightness as the Dodgers open a weekend series against the Rockies at Dodger Stadium.

Puig was held out of the lineup and didn't play against the Mariners on both Tuesday and Wednesday after feeling tightness in his left hamstring during Monday's game. Puig finished that game, a contest in which he had three hits, including a home run, his second consecutive game with a home run.

He tried testing the hamstring in the field with team trainers before Friday's game, but Andre Ethier starts in right field instead for a third straight game.

"We don't think it's anything serious. I watched him run and he ran pretty well. But he obviously felt something," manager Don Mattingly said. "We talked about it before with Stan [Conte, team trainer]. We really needed to run him pretty good to see where he was at. If that would have went well, we probably would have talked about tomorrow. I'm not sure if we're at that point now."

Mattingly said as of now there is no MRI exam planned for Puig, and that a disabled list stint seems unlikely. But while Puig remains questionable to even return to the lineup, Mattingly didn't rule out the possibility of Puig being available to pinch hit on Friday night, though it will depend on how Puig feels after pregame workouts.

Ethier against Kyle Kendrick is 6-for-25 (.240) with two home runs, two doubles and three walks in his career.

Juan Uribe is 5-for-8 (.625) with a home run and a double against Kendrick, while Adrian Gonzalez is 5-for-12 (.417) with two doubles.

Yasmani Grandal, catching Clayton Kershaw for the first time in as three starts, is 2-for-7 (.286) with a double against Kendrick.

The Rockies are sitting Carlos Gonzalez, trying to load up as many right-handed batters as possible against Kershaw. Gonzalez has two home runs and two walks in his career against Kershaw, but is also just 5-for-30 (.167) with 17 strikeouts.

Also, Colorado is batting Kendrick eighth, just the 29th time a starting pitcher has batted eighth against the Dodgers dating back to 1914. The first pitcher in that span to bat eighth against the Dodgers was Luis Arroyo of the Pirates in 1957, and the last was Jeremy Hellickson of the Rays on August 11, 2013, the latter the only time it has happened in the last four seasons.