Irregular heartbeat sends Dodgers’ Kenley Jansen to hospital

Soon after posting his second save of the season Tuesday night, Dodgers right-hander Kenley Jansen was hospitalized because of an irregular heartbeat.

Jansen remained at a hospital for observation Wednesday night while the Dodgers played their final game of a three-game series with the Colorado Rockies. He was scheduled to be released Thursday.

Manager Don Mattingly said he and trainer Stan Conte talked about the possibility of Jansen’s pitching as early as Saturday.

Conte pointed out that reliever Joe Beimel had a similar episode when he was with the Dodgers in 2007. Beimel pitched two days later.

Jansen, who leads the majors with an average of 14.84 strikeouts per nine innings, complained of his heart fluttering after the game Tuesday. That led to his undergoing an EKG performed by team physician Mary Gendry. Jansen was later driven to a hospital.

“Any time you have an irregular heartbeat, we treat it pretty seriously,” Conte said.

Because Jansen failed to respond to medication administered to him that night, doctors had to put him under anesthesia and shock his heart back into normal rhythm.

Conte said Jansen would undergo additional tests to determine the cause of his irregular heartbeat.

“The question I can’t answer yet, and probably will be able to in the next 24 hours, is what we do next,” Conte said. “He is absolutely normal now.”

Mattingly said Jansen appeared to be in good spirits Tuesday night.

“He didn’t seem worried at all,” Mattingly said.

Conte said that remained the case Wednesday.

“He’s calling us and yelling and screaming he wants out [of the hospital],” Conte said.

Jon Garland is optimistic about future

Dodgers pitcher Jon Garland said that he still can’t raise his right arm over his head, but that he was confident he will be able to resume his career next year.

Garland, 31, underwent season-ending surgery this month to clean his shoulder. He said he expected to make a full recovery.

“I don’t see any reason I couldn’t,” he said. “At this point, I’m real positive about it.”

Garland’s deal with the Dodgers was guaranteed for only one season. The team is expected to decline his option for next season.

He was 1-5 with a 4.33 earned-run average in nine starts.

Garland said he hasn’t thought about whether he will be offered anything more than a minor league contract in the off-season.

“I really haven’t,” he said. “My biggest concern is getting healthy.”

A graduate of Kennedy High in Granada Hills, Garland said he was open to returning to the Dodgers.

“I’d love to come back here,” he said.

Short hops

Dodgers third baseman Casey Blake will make a minor league rehabilitation appearance for Class-A Rancho Cucamonga on Thursday. Blake is scheduled to be the designated hitter. … Los Lonely Boys will perform in Lot 6 of the Dodger Stadium parking lot Sunday as part of “Viva Los Dodgers Day.” The event, which is open to anyone with a ticket for the game that day, starts at 11:10 a.m. … Mattingly said that he saw the controversial play at the plate that decided the Atlanta Braves’ 19-inning victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night, but that he remained wary of expanding the use of instant replay. “How far are we going to go with the replay?” Mattingly said. “It’s going to take forever. People already complain about the length of games.”

dylan.hernandez@latimes.com