LaRoche leaves the nerves behind

SAN DIEGO -- The Dodgers had planned to recall infielder Andy LaRoche before Tuesday’s game in Chicago. But after watching Shea Hillenbrand strike out five times in seven at-bats and commit a key error in the first two games of the Padres series, the Dodgers rushed LaRoche to San Diego on Sunday and immediately inserted him into the starting lineup.

Which was good, since the quick turnaround didn’t leave the rookie much time to worry about going from the minor leagues into the middle of a pennant race.

“I really noticed on the flight this morning there was never the butterflies or the nerves like I had last time,” said LaRoche, who struggled in his first trial with the Dodgers, batting .211 in 38 at-bats.

“It was more ‘I know what it’s all about. I know what it takes to stay here.’ There’s less pressure on me this time.”

LaRoche struck out on six pitches in his first two at-bats and walked in each of his last two trips Sunday. The 23-year-old, rated the Dodgers’ top prospect by Baseball America, missed playing time because of a sore back recently but still hit .309 with 18 homers in 73 games for triple-A Las Vegas.

The rookie wore No. 28 in his first stint in the majors, but with Hillenbrand having claimed that number, LaRoche is wearing Wilson Betemit’s old number, 10.

Hillenbrand, LaRoche and Betemit are among eight players the Dodgers have used at third this year, the most they have used at any position other than pitcher.

Right-hander Jonathan Meloan and infielder Chin-lung Hu made their major league debuts in Saturday’s blowout loss, with Meloan pitching two hitless innings and Hu grounding out in his only at-bat.

“It’s a good accomplishment to get to this level,” said Meloan, who received a lineup card and the ball he used to strike out San Diego’s Khalil Greene for his first big league strikeout. “Now I just want to keep it going and stay here for as long as I can.”

Meloan, 23, a fifth-round pick in the 2005 draft, said the main difference between the majors and triple A is the size of the crowd and the stadium. When he pitched Saturday, for example, it was in front of a sellout crowd of more than 42,000.

“It’s a bigger stage,” Meloan said. “[But] when it comes down to it, good pitches are still good pitches and they get outs. And bad pitches get hit. But if you take away all the fans and the lights and all the noise and everything, it’s still the game of baseball.

“It’s basically the same thing. Just a bunch [more] fans sitting around you. Once you can eliminate those you’re fine.”

Hu agreed.

“I was a little bit nervous when I first went in on defense,” said Hu, 23, who signed with the Dodgers in 2003 and is the fifth native of Taiwan to play in the majors. “After that, it was the same. Just like minor league baseball.”

Matt Kemp’s three hits Sunday gave him seven multi-hit games in 13 starts, and he keyed both Dodgers rallies by scoring twice and driving in a run. But he also ran the team out of another inning with his fourth baserunning gaffe in eight days.

With the game still scoreless in the fourth inning, Kemp led off with a single then tried to steal second with Jeff Kent at the plate. But when Kent hit the ball in the air to center, Kemp lost track of it and was easily doubled off first.

“I couldn’t pick up the ball,” he said. “I just couldn’t get back in time.”

Added Manager Grady Little: “It’s something we’re working on. [But] it’s not really something I feel like talking about after we won this game.”

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kevin.baxter@latimes.com