Kershaw gets tagged by Padres, then by a quick hook from Torre

Never mind that Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw was in the middle of facing the opposing pitcher.

Manager Joe Torre had seen enough.

With the bases full and a 2-0 count on San Diego Padres starter Kevin Correia, Torre lifted the 21-year-old Kershaw after the left-hander already had struggled through 83 pitches in 2 2/3 innings Wednesday.

Reliever Jeff Weaver restored order by striking out Correia. But by then the Padres had a 3-1 lead and, with Correia and the Padres’ bullpen strangling the Dodgers’ offense, San Diego held on to beat the Dodgers by that score at Dodger Stadium.

“I just didn’t have it tonight, there’s really not an explanation for it,” Kershaw said.

“I probably won’t think about this one too much, trying to put it past me as quick as possible. Tomorrow I’ll come back to work.”

The win gave the Padres (28-31) a split of their brief two-game series with the Dodgers, who are off today before starting a three-game interleague series Friday against the Rangers in Texas.

San Diego appeared to be a soft target for the Dodgers (40-21), who lead the big leagues in wins, batting average and earned-run average.

The Padres also had an 8-20 record on the road before the game, and they had won only two of nine games against the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium and Petco Park this season.

But then Kershaw (3-5) took the mound in front of 44,079 and the Texan was in trouble from the get-go, needing 34 pitches to survive the first inning.

He gave up singles to Tony Gwynn and David Eckstein and a walk to Adrian Gonzalez to load the bases with none out.

An disputed infield single by Kevin Kouzmanoff (the Dodgers thought first baseman James Loney tagged Kouzmanoff) scored Gwynn, and a slow grounder by Edgar Gonzalez, Adrian’s brother, scored Eckstein to give San Diego a 2-0 lead.

The Dodgers came back in the first inning when Juan Pierre led off with an infield single, stole second and scored when Andre Ethier -- batting .583 against Correia (3-4) coming into the game -- singled home Pierre.

But Kershaw’s problems continued in the third inning when Kouzmanoff hit a ground-rule double and scored on Chase Headley’s single. Kershaw then walked Henry Blanco and Josh Wilson to load the bases, and was in danger of walking Correia when Torre pulled him.

“It’s being able to locate” your pitches, Torre said of Kershaw. “He just needs to be more consistent with his location. It’ll come. It’s a process that gets frustrating when you’re Clayton Kershaw.”

Weaver and then Cory Wade were bright spots for the Dodgers in relief. Weaver didn’t give up a run and surrendered only one hit in 2 1/3 innings while striking out three. And Wade tossed shutout ball over the next two innings.

The Dodgers threatened in the seventh inning when Casey Blake led off with a double and Russell Martin walked off Padres reliever Greg Burke. But Rafael Furcal struck out and, with the runners going on a 3-2 pitch to Matt Kemp, Kemp also struck out and Blake was thrown out at third.

In the eighth, pinch-hitter Blake DeWitt walked and reached third base with two out, but Ethier struck out.

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james.peltz@latimes.com