Hiroki Kuroda

Right-hander Hiroki Kuroda will start for the Dodgers on opening day, April 6, in San Diego against the Padres, Dodgers Manager Joe Torre said Wednesday. Kuroda will be followed by Randy Wolf, Chad Billingsley and Clayton Kershaw, Torre said, but the manager did not name a fifth starter. The Dodgers-Padres series skips a day April 7, meaning the club could stick with four starters in the first two weeks of the season.

The New York Yankees made a major push to bolster their starting rotation Friday, agreeing to terms with former Dodgers right-hander Hiroki Kuroda on a $10-million, one-year contract shortly after acquiring right-hander Michael Pineda from the Seattle Mariners. A person familiar with Kuroda's signing told the Associated Press the deal is contingent on the 36-year-old passing a physical. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the signing has not been announced.

Xavier Paul might not make the Dodgers' opening-day roster, but the young outfielder could be playing in the big leagues before the season ends. Paul, who hit .316 for triple-A Las Vegas last year, is making the most of his spring-training appearance with the big club. He has played in every game, is batting .406 and has a team-leading 13 hits. "He's emerged this spring," Manager Joe Torre said. "Last year, he caught our attention somewhat, but he was a little on the raw side.

The Dodgers signed left-hander Chris Capuano to a two-year deal Friday, giving him a place in the starting rotation and all but eliminating the possibility that they would bring back Hiroki Kuroda. Capuano, 33, was 11-12 with a 4.55 earned-run average for the New York Mets last season. His contract is guaranteed for $10 million, of which he will be paid $3 million next year and $6 million in 2013. The deal includes an $8 million mutual option for 2014 that the Dodgers can buy out for $1 million.

The Dodgers are poised to reached the playoffs for the third time in the last four years, but how prepared are they for the postseason, which begins in three weeks? Not surprisingly, the answer pivots on the effectiveness of the Dodgers' recently expanded lineup of starting pitchers. Hiroki Kuroda was effective again Wednesday as the right-hander held the Pittsburgh Pirates to one run in six innings, and home runs by Matt Kemp and Ronnie Belliard powered the Dodgers past the Pirates, 3-1, at Dodger Stadium.

Who knows how long the heart of the Dodgers' lineup will remain intact after Manny Ramirez , Casey Blake and some other Dodgers reportedly were put on waivers Wednesday. But for one night, at least, the core group again showed the offensive form that was supposed to help the Dodgers repeat as division winners. Ramirez, Andre Ethier , Matt Kemp and James Loney all contributed at least one run batted in, and Blake went two for five and scored a run, as the Dodgers defeated the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-4, to take the first two games of their three-game series.

Fredi Gonzalez , high on the Cubs' list of managerial candidates, remains the front-runner to replace Bobby Cox in Atlanta. … Hiroki Kuroda , a free agent at the end of the year, is rumored to be heading back to Japan but says he doesn't know what he's going to do. The Cubs had been close to signing him in 2007, but he decided to stay in Japan, signing with the Dodgers after that season. … Tony La Russa and Colby Rasmus have a strained relationship, but it's hard to see the Cardinals trading Rasmus if they re-sign La Russa for 2011.

On a night when Chad Billingsley was scratched from his next start, Hiroki Kuroda delivered 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball. On a night when the offense continued to search for its rhythm, Matt Kemp delivered a bases-clearing double that gave the Dodgers a two-run lead. On a night when the Dodgers had to end a three-game losing streak to prevent their lead in the National League West from being cut to 4 1/2 games, they delivered a gritty 4-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Monday at AT&T Park.

Hiroki Kuroda threw a 50-pitch bullpen session Wednesday, his first since being struck in the head by a line drive 11 days earlier. Kuroda was pleased with the way he felt -- "Considering how long it's been, it felt as normal as could be," he said -- but remained unsure of how long it would take him to be game-ready. Pitching coach Rick Honeycutt said that Kuroda looked fine, noting that if he didn't know what had happened to him in Arizona, he would have thought he was in line to pitch three days later.

Hiroki Kuroda pitched in his first game since opening day Friday night, throwing 58 pitches over 3 2/3 innings for Class-A Inland Empire in Bakersfield in a rehabilitation start. Kuroda, who struck out three, gave up one hit and an unearned run. Sidelined for six weeks by a strained left side muscle, Kuroda is expected to pitch in another game Wednesday.

The coming days could be Hiroki Kuroda's last with the Dodgers. He is 36 and his neck is hurting again. The Dodgers are out of contention. There seems to be little to no incentive for him to continue. Kuroda will be a free agent this winter and hasn't said whether he will remain in the major leagues next season or return to the Hiroshima Carp, for whom he pitched during his first 11 seasons as a professional. For now, he said he intends to take his next turn in the rotation.

Reporting from San Francisco -- Well, you can't win 'em all. The Dodgers received a shellacking Sunday, as Hiroki Kuroda was ineffective and the bullpen was downright awful in an 8-1 defeat to the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park. The loss was the Dodgers' first in six days. Plagued with command problems, Kuroda gave up three runs and eight hits in a season-low 42/3 innings. Considering how he pitched, the damage could have been far worse. Kuroda said the neck problems that bothered him in previous seasons have resurfaced in recent weeks.

Reporting from Washington -- Well, that was fun while it lasted. The Dodgers are back to losing and back to not scoring, as they dropped their second consecutive game Monday, falling to the Washington Nationals, 7-2, at Nationals Park. The consecutive losses followed a 12-game stretch during which the Dodgers won 11 games. "It's hard to say," Manager Don Mattingly said when asked whether the Dodgers reverted to their season-long form. "Is it that? Is it baseball?" Hiroki Kuroda didn't help matters.

After two days of questions, debate and uncertainty about the health of Andre Ethier's right knee, Ethier made one thing clear Tuesday night: His knee still is strong enough for him to drive the ball into the stands with the bases loaded. Ethier's grand slam capped an eight-run second inning in the Dodgers' 8-5 victory over the San Diego Padres. It was the Dodgers' seventh win in eight games. The Dodgers' big inning came courtesy of San Diego starter Tim Stauffer's major control issues as he walked six batters in the second, a Padres record.

It was hard to tell what was hotter at Busch Stadium on Wednesday, the nearly 100-degree temperatures on the field or the Dodgers' renewed burst of run production. Dodgers batters pummeled St. Louis pitching for the second time in less than 24 hours to defeat the Cardinals, 9-4, sweep their three-game series and finish the Dodgers' trip 5-5. It was the Dodgers' first road sweep of the season and the first time the Dodgers had swept a series in St. Louis since 1993. A six-run third inning and subsequent home runs by A.J. Ellis and Juan Rivera gave starting pitcher Hiroki Kuroda (10-14)

Andre Ethier was out of the lineup because of an infected toe. Tony Gwynn Jr. was leading off. Justin Sellers was batting second, Aaron Miles third. The Dodgers team that took the field Friday night at Coors Field looked like a spring training split squad. "This has kind of been our club, to be honest with you," Manager Don Mattingly said. He broke into a light laugh. But what figured to be the latest lowlight for the downtrodden Dodgers turned out to be a resounding triumph.

Clayton Kershaw's postseason experience last year consisted of two innings over two games of the National League Championship Series. The 21-year-old left-hander figures to play a greater role this October. Kershaw is scheduled to make his final start of the season against the Colorado Rockies on Saturday, which would put him in line to pitch in Game 2 of the NL division series on Oct. 8. Randy Wolf is starting Friday, making him the likely Game 1 starter. Hiroki Kuroda originally was scheduled to pitch Saturday, but a stiff neck has led to his being scratched from his last start of the season.

Hiroki Kuroda said the memory doesn't upset him anymore. But he said he still wonders: Why was he fined but not Brett Myers? "I always found that curious," he said. Today he will start Game 3 of the National League Championship Series against the Philadelphia Phillies -- just as he did one year ago. In the third inning of that game a year ago, Kuroda threw what looked like retaliation for fastballs that Myers threw at the heads of Russell Martin and Manny Ramirez in the previous game, Kuroda sailed a pitch over the helmet of Shane Victorino.

The relieved look on Hiroki Kuroda's face in the clubhouse needed no translation. The Dodgers scored as many runs for the Japanese pitcher Sunday as they had in his four previous starts combined. "I'm not really used to having this many runs," Kuroda said through an interpreter after the Dodgers' 7-0 victory over the Houston Astros at Dodger Stadium. Kuroda thanked his teammates for their support by limiting the Astros to five hits and one walk over seven scoreless innings.

When Hiroki Kuroda told the Dodgers last week that he would not waive the no-trade clause in his contract to facilitate a trade to a World Series contender, General Manager Ned Colletti said he thought the decision was based on how comfortable the Japanese right-hander felt in Los Angeles. Manager Don Mattingly offered a similar opinion, explaining how a player who does not speak English could be hesitant to make a midseason move. Something was lost in translation. Kuroda said his decision was based on a previous decision, which was to re-sign with the Dodgers over the winter.