Padres' Ian Kennedy exits home opener with hamstring injury

San Diego Padresstarter Ian Kennedy left Thursday's 1-0 win over theSan Francisco Giantsafter straining his left hamstring while making a pitch to Nori Aoki with one out in the third inning.

He signaled to the dugout that something was wrong, and manager Bud Black and a trainer went out to the mound. Kennedy was pulled immediately.

Black said Kennedy could go on the disabled list.

On his last pitch of the second, Kennedy said he "felt something grab, almost like a cramp feeling.'' He said the trainer tried to loosen it up but he felt it tighten again.

"The whole time I felt something wasn't right. The last pitch, I didn't feel anything pop or anything but I'm not going to hurt my arm by changing my mechanics," he said.

"I needed to stop because I wasn't putting out the same effort because I was trying to protect it. It's frustrating because I felt really good and pitching in a great atmosphere."

Odrisamer Despaigne, who lost the spring training battle for the job as No. 5 starter to Brandon Morrow, retired 14 straight batters. He inherited a 2-1 count to Aoki. Aoki walked -- it counted against Kennedy -- before Despaigne retired the side. Despaigne then breezed through four perfect innings, with one strikeout.

Despaigne has an 0.36 ERA in four career appearances against the Giants. He went 2-0 with an 0.45 ERA in three starts against them last year, including throwing seven shutout innings in his big league debut June 23.

Kennedy allowed two hits in 2 1/3 innings, with two strikeouts and two walks.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.