Sore hip keeps Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw from making his start

As the Dodgers braced for the loss of third baseman Justin Turner into the weekend and perhaps beyond, they scratched ace Clayton Kershaw from his start Wednesday because of a sore hip.

Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly said Kershaw completed his bullpen session this week without incident but reported soreness thereafter. Mattingly said he knew the Dodgers would scratch Kershaw “when I saw his face coming in” on Tuesday.

The Dodgers are off Thursday. Kershaw is scheduled to start Friday.

“We didn’t see a reason to push it,” Mattingly said.

The Dodgers sent Turner home from the stadium Wednesday so he could recover from a thigh infection. Turner spent Tuesday in an emergency room and got oral and intravenous antibiotics. Mattingly said doctors took a culture to determine the cause of the infection.

If the infection does not heal rapidly, the Dodgers could put Turner on the 15-day disabled list.

“At this point, we’re hopeful it’s just a few days,” Mattingly said.

Turner leads the team in batting average (.323), slugging percentage (.563) and OPS (.950.) He has 13 home runs — a career high — in 87 games.

Kershaw missed a start three years ago because of a hip issue. He said his hip is “a little sore” now but declined to compare the condition with the one in 2012.

“It flared up this time,” he said. “I don’t know why.”

He said he probably would watch rather than participate at his charity ping-pong event Thursday. He responded sharply to the question of whether he was worried that pitching through soreness could impact his delivery.

“If it’s not sore, it won’t affect it,” Kershaw said.

No derby hangover

On the day the Dodgers dropped Joc Pederson out of the leadoff spot, the rookie center fielder wanted to make one thing perfectly clear: the home run derby did not ruin his swing and dump him into a slump.

“I think I was going through it before the All-Star break,” Pederson said.

Mattingly restored Jimmy Rollins to the leadoff spot and dropped Pederson to seventh. Pederson struck out three times on Tuesday, once failing to run to first base on a dropped third strike, and heard some boos from the Dodger Stadium crowd.

“He really seemed frustrated last night,” Mattingly said. “I didn’t want to keep seeing that.”

The change didn’t help Wednesday, as Pederson went 0 for 4 with three more strikeouts, dropping his average for the month to .169. In 93 plate appearances, he has one home run, four walks and 31 strikeouts.

Pederson did not object to the lineup change. “I just show up,” he said. “Whatever Donnie thinks is the best lineup to win the game, I’m all for it.”

Mattingly said he wanted to ease the burden on Pederson. “I want him to feel like he can just go play and not feel the pressure of being the guy at the top of the order,” Mattingly said.

Pederson is batting .225 with 21 home runs, tied with Adrian Gonzalez for the team lead. Pederson leads the National League in strikeouts with 125.

The manager said he spoke with Pederson, emphasizing his ability to help the team in the field and on the bases even when he is not hitting.

“I really think Joc is going to be a special player,” Mattingly said. “Sometimes it takes a little time. Sometimes it takes failure.”

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