With Turner out, could Utley shift to third?

LOS ANGELES -- Justin Turner was pulled from Saturday's game with left knee soreness, and with the 30-year-old on the mend for the next few days, the Dodgers are mulling their options at the hot corner.

Turner is expected to be out of the starting lineup for the next few days, according to manager Don Mattingly, but could be available in a pinch-hitting role if the soreness in his knee calms down.

"Justin obviously got sore in the game last night. We'll watch him over the next few days, see how he does," Mattingly said. "I don't think it's anything totally new, it just got flared up. We'll just be cautious with him."

Alex Guerrero got the start for the Dodgers at third base in Sunday's 4-3 loss, and he's the front-runner to pick up more playing time, although the Dodgers have other options. Ronald Torreyes can play the position and Corey Seager made two starts at third, although Los Angeles needs him at shortstop as Jimmy Rollins is still out of the lineup with a sprained finger.

One intriguing option is moving Chase Utley from second base to third base. In his 13-year career, Utley has never played third, but he's been fielding grounders there before games over the past few weeks and Mattingly thought he was getting closer to being ready to step into the position.

"Chase sounds like he's willing to do it, so he'll give his best effort -- you never have to worry about that," Mattingly said. "We're getting closer. [Coach Tim Wallach] felt like, after working with him yesterday, it was his best day out there."

Moving Utley to third with Turner out of the lineup could relieve some of the logjam at second base now that Howie Kendrick returned to the lineup on Saturday after dealing with a hamstring injury.

"We've got a number of options," Mattingly said.