Only Little’s hook is quick

Patterns begin to emerge early in a season. A sure-fire sign of trouble for the Dodgers is Manager Grady Little lauding Mark Hendrickson’s relief pitching.

Hendrickson is the long man in the bullpen, meaning it’s already been a long night for the Dodgers by the time he’s called upon. That certainly was the case Saturday night at Dodger Stadium in a 7-2 loss to the San Diego Padres.

Starter Jason Schmidt couldn’t record an out in the third inning and left trailing, 6-0, having given up two home runs among seven hits. It was the right-hander’s shortest start since May 4, 2002, when he was coming off a groin injury.

A cramp in his right hamstring cut short his last start in the fifth inning. But that had nothing to do with his ineffectiveness against the Padres, who jumped on fat first-pitch fastballs and laid off changeups out of the strike zone.

In fact, perhaps the most alarming aspect of Schmidt’s performance was that he felt fine.

“It’s just one of those days you put behind you,” he said. “Mechanically I felt fine. There’s nothing wrong physically. I just made bad pitches.”

So although Hendrickson held the Padres (7-4) to one run in five innings -- his third impressive outing in a losing cause -- the Dodgers (7-4) were never close, a reversal of a night earlier when they crushed the Padres, 9-1, in the first game of the series.

“Mark is steady in that role,” Little said. “We’re proud of his performance.”

And worried about Schmidt.

Questions about his health are inevitable because the Dodgers made a huge investment in him -- a three-year, $47-million contract. Yet his fastball seems to take as long to reach home plate as Dodgers fans take to reach their seats after sitting in parking-lot traffic.

“It’s beginning to be [a concern], to be honest,” Little said. “Hopefully, he’ll be able to get through this and get to the point where he can get people out.”

Brian Giles homered on an 81-mph first-pitch fastball in the first inning, then Schmidt completely unraveled in the second. Khalil Greene doubled, Terrmel Sledge singled and Kevin Kouzmanoff homered on another mediocre first-pitch fastball.

A shaken Schmidt began nibbling and walked Pete Laforest. Second baseman Jeff Kent dropped a throw to first on Jake Peavy’s bunt, then Schmidt gave up run-scoring singles to brothers Marcus and Brian Giles.

Schmidt retired the next three batters but ran into immediate trouble in the third. Sledge singled, Kouzmanoff walked, and Little had seen enough.

Hendrickson, who pitched poorly as a starter after being acquired in a trade last season, was sharp once again, making him a viable alternative should Schmidt or another starter miss a turn. He needed only one more pitch (58) to get through five innings than Schmidt required to record six outs.

Schmidt prides himself on going deep into games. Only one of his 32 starts last season was fewer than five innings -- a 3 1/3 -inning stint against the Atlanta Braves on Aug. 29.

Yet he has logged only 11 innings in three Dodgers starts. This time, he was booed in the second and third innings.

“If I had the answers, it wouldn’t have happened,” he said. “I booed myself all the way off the mound.”

Peavy’s performance was a considerable contrast. He notched his fifth consecutive victory against the Dodgers by giving up three hits in seven innings. Kent’s sacrifice fly in the sixth brought in Russell Martin with the only run against him.

Juan Pierre, Rafael Furcal and Martin singled consecutively for a run against Doug Brocail in the eighth, but much of the sellout crowd of 55,942 had already begun filing out.

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