--LHP Scott Elbert, the Dodgers' first-round draft pick in 2004, will have his contract purchased from Class AA Jacksonville on Friday. The call-up will be the first of Elbert's professional career, and it comes without his ever having spent a day in Class AAA. Elbert missed most of last season with a shoulder injury, but he posted a 2.40 ERA at Jacksonville this season, allowing just 22 hits in 41 1/3 innings.

--LHP Clayton Kershaw was optioned to Class AAA Las Vegas after giving up five runs and lasting just 2 1/3 innings. The move was made to clear a roster spot for LHP Scott Elbert. With the Pacific Coast League season due to end on Monday, and with Las Vegas not playoff-bound, Kershaw will be recalled in time to make his next scheduled start for the Dodgers on Tuesday night against San Diego.

--CF Matt Kemp went hitless in four at-bats in the leadoff spot. Kemp is hitless in his past 14 at-bats over the Dodgers' past three games. He is batting .129 (4-for-31) with two doubles and one walk during the Dodgers' seven-game losing streak.

BY THE NUMBERS: .179 -- Collective batting average for the Dodgers from the seventh inning on last week, a stretch during which they had 12 hits in 67 at-bats and scored only two runs on a solo homer by James Loney and an RBI single by Jeff Kent. Before Sunday, they had only two runners in scoring position during those innings, both of which came when they loaded the bases with two outs on Tuesday night against Colorado and failed to score.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "Obviously, I'm not as strong or as durable as I once was. It's not easy for me to go out there and throw 120 or 130 pitches anymore. But you have to go out there and play with what you've got and hopefully give your team a good six or seven innings, then let everybody else do their thing after that." -- Greg Maddux, the Dodgers' newly acquired pitcher, when asked what he has left at age 42.