Kent Dealing With Side Issue

A large bag of ice covers Jeff Kent’s left rib cage after every game. It’s harder for him to conceal his pain, and its effect on his play.

Kent has lived with an injury -- a muscle strain -- for more than two months. He sat out six games in early July but rather than go on the disabled list he tried to come back after the All-Star break, and after five games ended up on the disabled list anyway.

The injury has not fully healed, even though Kent is batting .326 since Aug. 16 and has hit in 17 of the last 19 games. The veteran second baseman went 0 for 4 in Thursday’s loss, twice flying out to the warning track.

He has only 13 home runs and almost certainly his streak of seasons with at least 20 homers will end at nine. But his discomfort is mostly evident on defense, where he has booted easy ground balls and showed limited range.

“I’m not the same player,” he said. “I’m teetering on hurting at the end of a long season, but I’m getting by.”

He is one awkward swing or headfirst slide from a recurrence of the injury that could sideline him again.

“It could go any time,” he said. “Hopefully, you keep going until the end of the season. I’m not too worried about it.”

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Rookie Hong-Chih Kuo earned a permanent spot in the rotation with his second consecutive strong start.

“I don’t know how you can move him out,” Manager Grady Little said.

Kuo gave up two hits in six innings and, most impressively, walked none. He has had difficulty controlling his live fastball and sharp-breaking curve, walking 34 in 41 2/3 big league innings before Thursday.

Kuo, who throws every pitch from the stretch, extended his string of scoreless innings as a starter to 9 1/3 before giving up two runs with one out in the fourth. However, he bounced back with two scoreless innings before departing with a 5-2 lead.

“It’s a shot in the arm for us knowing we’ll get two or three more starts out of the kid,” Little said.

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Marlon Anderson played left field in place of Andre Ethier for the second game in a row and hit a two-run home run in the second inning. Anderson is batting .350 since coming to the Dodgers from the Washington Nationals on Aug. 31 and is batting .281 overall.

“I came to help the team win,” he said. “If it’s pinch-hitting, I’ll take advantage of that during the playoff push. If Grady wants me out there, that’s a positive too.”

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J.D. Drew’s three-run home run increased his team-leading runs batted in total to 85. There is occasional grumbling about Drew’s seeming inability to hit in the clutch, but his batting average with runners in scoring position (.286) is better than his overall mark (.276).

steve.henson@latimes.com