Dodgers 2B Howie Kendrick leaves game with strained hamstring

PITTSBURGH --Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman Howie Kendrick left Sunday night's 13-6 loss to Pittsburgh with a strained left hamstring after beating out an infield single in the fifth inning.

Kendrick appeared to feel something right before he reached the bag, changing his stride just before he reached on the dribbler to the right of first baseman Michael Morse. He didn't wait for a trainer to reach him before he began limping toward the dugout, where he pounded the bench several times in frustration before retreating to the clubhouse. He was replaced by pinch runner Enrique Hernandez.

Kendrick missed 10 weeks of the 2008 season for the Los Angeles Angels with hamstring strains and he said this one felt similar.

"It grabbed," Kendrick said. "It just kind of stinks, too, because it's the time of year when you want to be on the field, not off the field. Every opportunity you have to try to help the team score runs, you have to take advantage of. Right there, I was trying to hustle and it came back to bite me."

The Dodgers did not immediately put Kendrick on the 15-day disabled list, but it looks like it is headed that way. He will undergo an MRI Monday in Los Angeles. Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said utility player Enrique Hernandez likely would be the Dodgers' everyday second baseman while Kendrick is out.

"He'd leave a big void. Howie's to me just a bread-and-butter leader, a big part of us," Mattingly said.

The team also has speedy second baseman Jose Peraza at Triple-A Oklahoma City, where he is batting .385 in 10 games. The Dodgers landed Peraza from the Atlanta Braves in the three-team, 13-player trade that also involved the Miami Marlins.

Kendrick was 2 for 3 Sunday, giving him five consecutive multi-hit games. He is 11 for 23 (.478) during that streak.

Kendrick, batting .295, leads the Dodgers in hits and is second to Adrian Gonzalez in doubles, runs and RBIs.

The Dodgers already are without starting third baseman Justin Turner, who is on the 15-day disabled list with an infection in his right leg. Turner is expected to return around the middle of next week.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.