Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw to visit back specialist in L.A.

For the 2016 Dodgers, a team that often resembles a 24-man millstone around the neck of pitcher Clayton Kershaw, few alarms can sound louder than this. A few hours before a 6-5 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday, Manager Dave Roberts revealed Kershaw was scheduled to fly to Los Angeles on Wednesday morning to undergo an examination on his sore lower back.

Kershaw has battled a back issue for several starts, Roberts said. But Kershaw reported a more serious form of soreness after his six-inning, four-run defeat at the hands of the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday night. Two days of rest did not improve his condition.

“He’s not any better,” Roberts said. “He’s not any better.”

Robert Watkins, the Dodgers’ back specialist, will examine Kershaw, who was with the Dodgers before Tuesday’s game. Andrew Friedman, the president of baseball operations, referred to the examination as “precautionary.” He otherwise deferred comment to Roberts.

Kershaw watched the victory on Tuesday from the dugout. He said he would discuss his condition after he met with Watkins. He has refused to use his back trouble as an explanation for his outing on Sunday.

“The thing about Clayton, if he’s going to pitch, he’s going to pitch,” pitching coach Rick Honeycutt said.

Roberts expressed hope that Kershaw (11-2, 1.79 earned-run average) could make his scheduled start on Friday at Dodger Stadium. But the team requires more clarity on his condition.

The goal, Roberts explained, is “to get him in the doctors’ hands, then they’ll go from there. I think they’re going to do whatever they can to figure out what the problem is. We just want to get some answers.”

Kershaw has landed on the disabled list only once in his career, when he experienced inflammation of the teres major muscle in his upper back after opening day in Australia in 2014. He pitched through a right hip impingement in 2012. He missed a start in 2015 because of soreness in his hip. Roberts indicated the team does not believe his current issues are related to the hip.

Any uncertainty with Kershaw draws attention to a pair of absences on the Dodgers’ roster. The team could not pry Cole Hamels from Philadelphia at last summer’s trade deadline; Hamels has a 2.79 ERA for the Texas Rangers, who did acquire him.

And the Dodgers declined to meet the asking price of Zack Greinke in free agency. Arizona swooped in and swiped him away from its division rivals. After a sluggish April, Greinke posted a 2.58 ERA in his next 10 starts. He stymied his old team on June 13 at Chase Field for seven innings. Greinke injured his oblique on Tuesday and left his game after two innings.

The men surrounding Kershaw in 2016 cannot be considered aces. The best of the bunch is Kenta Maeda, who has shown an admirable ability to adapt to major league competition, but struggles after throwing 75 pitches. Scott Kazmir has a 4.67 ERA and hasn’t pitched in the seventh inning in six weeks.

The upheaval in the rotation forced the team to slate rookie Brock Stewart for his debut on Wednesday. Stewart started the season in Class-A Rancho Cucamonga. Roberts has never seen him pitch.

A pair of rehabbing veterans represents the cavalry. Brandon McCarthy logged five innings and 72 pitches on Monday. A rain delay ruined Hyun-Jin Ryu’s start with triple-A Oklahoma City on Tuesday. He will make up the outing on Wednesday with Rancho Cucamonga.

Roberts believes McCarthy is “a tick ahead” of Ryu, who has struggled to solve minor league hitters. Asked if they could be considered ready for the majors, he replied, “We’ll find out.”

Andy.McCullough@latimes.com

Twitter: @McCulloughTimes