"In his third season in the majors, Hiroki Kuroda has an increased understanding of American culture — enough to understand the concept that he could be jinxed by the written word.

So when initially approached Tuesday, Kuroda smiled and used his left hand to simulate the sealing of his lips.

The reason?

He starts on Wednesday.

The last time he had something written about him in this newspaper on the day he started was on July 2. He was pounded by the Arizona Diamondbacks for six runs in a season-low 1 2/3 innings.

"After that, I don't want to take a chance," Kuroda said, laughing.

That only happened once, Kuroda was told. This could serve as an experiment.

"Experiment?" he replied, still laughing. "What if I get hit?"

Kuroda has posted a 2.14 earned-run average in three starts since the debacle in Arizona.

Eventually, Kuroda agreed to talk — under one condition.

"If I get hit tomorrow," he told a reporter, "I'm going to blame you."

Anticipated matchup unlikely

The Dodgers' media notes pointed out that because Clayton Kershaw was serving a five-game suspension and scheduled to make his next Sunday, he was in line to pitch against Washington Nationals rookie Stephen Strasburg on Aug. 6 at Dodger Stadium.

But the showdown of up-and-coming 22-year-olds appeared to evaporate before the Dodgers' eyes, as the television sets in the clubhouse showed Strasburg scratched from his start Tuesday because he had trouble warming up. Strasburg was diagnosed with inflammation in his right shoulder.

Kershaw, who was suspended for throwing at Aaron Rowand of the San Francisco Giants, said he still disagreed with the commissioner's office's decision to punish him."