Howie Kendrick misses game with knee stiffness

LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers were without Howie Kendrick on Thursday night, as the second baseman felt stiffness in his left knee, an injury suffered on Wednesday at Coors Field in Colorado.

Kiké Hernandez got the start at second base in place of Kendrick, who was not even available to pinch hit.

"We weren't willing to use Howie tonight," said manager Don Mattingly.

Kendrick advanced from first to third base in the second inning on Wednesday but jammed his knee as his left foot caught on the bag. The throw got away and landed in the dugout, allowing Kendrick to score.

He remained in for the rest of the game, but the knee felt stiff on Thursday. Mattingly said how Kendrick feels on Friday will go along way toward determining when the second baseman might return.

"We'll know a lot more tomorrow. He was stiff today. Will he get better? It's hard to answer that right now," Mattingly said. "It's a possibility that if it ends up being too long we'll have to do something."

I missed Kendrick after the game, but he spoke with some reporters, including Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:

Howie Kendrick said MRI ruled out structural damage in right knee, but "if it doesn't feel good tomorrow, I don't know what will happen."

— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) June 5, 2015

Kendrick this season has played in 52 of 54 games for the Dodgers, starting 50, and is hitting .285/.347/.430 with five home runs, 12 doubles and 23 RBI on the season.

Up next

The Dodgers will send Brett Anderson to the mound on Friday night, his first June appearance since 2011. The Cardinals will counter with right-hander Carlos Martinez, who pitched seven scoreless innings to beat the Dodgers last Sunday and has pitched 20⅓ scoreless innings in his last three starts.