Hendrickson has best performance

VERO BEACH, Fla. -- Opening day is still more than two weeks away, but the Dodgers are showing signs they’re nearly ready to go, with Mark Hendrickson turning in a solid effort on the mound Thursday afternoon and Nomar Garciaparra and Luis Gonzalez hitting two-run home runs Thursday night.

That sparked a sweep of a split-squad doubleheader, with the Dodgers riding Hendrickson’s five shutout innings to a 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals in the first game at Jupiter and getting three homers, including Wilson Valdez’s third of the spring, to beat the Washington Nationals, 6-3, in the second at Holman Stadium.

The second game also marked the spring debut of valuable utility player Marlon Anderson, who has been nursing a sore elbow. Anderson went 0 for 2 with a walk as the designated hitter.

“Everything went good all day long,” said Dodgers Manager Grady Little, whose team has won five in a row and seven of its last eight. “We’ve still got everyone’s health as our No. 1 concern. Make sure they’re progressing the way they should be with their conditioning, getting ready to play.

“From here on out ... they’ll start stretching out a little bit more in the games they play. They’ll start playing a few games back to back, start getting ready for the season.”

Hendrickson, caught in the middle of a five-man battle for the final spot in the rotation, walked leadoff hitter David Eckstein on a full-count pitch, then retired the next 10 Cardinals before Scott Rolen blooped a double to right with one out in the fourth.

“I was happy with the way I finished up,” said Hendrickson, who tired at the end of his longest outing of the spring. “We’re all trying to get our arms in shape and trying to get our bodies in shape. When you stretch out you’re pitching through a little fatigue. But that’s how you get built up.”

Juan Pierre paced a 12-hit attack behind Hendrickson, going three for three with a run batted in to raise his average to .444. James Loney had two hits in three at-bats and is hitting a team-high .485.

Rafael Furcal, in his second start in two weeks, had a pair of hits and scored once in the nightcap.

Scouting report

The Dodgers get their first look at Japanese sensation Daisuke Matsuzaka today. But if they’re looking for a scouting report on the Boston Red Sox pitcher, Dodgers closer Takashi Saito, a four-time All-Star in Japan’s Central League, says he can’t help.

“In 1998, when we won the Japan Series, the kid was still in high school,” Saito, who at 37 is 11 years older than Matsuzaka, said through translator Scott Akasaki. “I’ve seen him on TV. [But] I would say that the Dodger scouting department would have a leg up on me in terms of giving information on Matsuzaka.”

One Dodger who is familiar with Matsuzaka is special advisor Tom Lasorda, who managed against him in the 2000 Olympics. Matsuzaka, then just 19, gave up two runs in 10 innings in a first-round game won by the U.S.

“If he stays injury-free, if nothing freakish happens to him, he has the ability to do well here,” Saito said. “Obviously he can’t control how many runs are scored for him. But he should be able to keep Boston in a lot of games [and] give them a chance to win every time he pitches.”

Around the horn

The Dodgers make their Southern California spring TV debut Saturday morning with Vin Scully calling the action against the Houston Astros from Vero Beach. The game, to be shown on Channel 9, will start at 10 a.m. ... The second round of roster cuts figures to come this weekend, perhaps as early as this morning.

kevin.baxter@latimes.com