Matt Kemp feeling better at the plate

Reporting from Boston — In a 10-6 loss to the Boston Red Sox on Friday night, Matt Kemp said he found reasons to be encouraged.

“Today was one of my better days,” Kemp said.

One of baseball’s top offensive performers in the first weeks of the season, Kemp is in the midst of a slump that is well into its second month.

He hit .333 with seven home runs and 20 runs batted in over the Dodgers’ first 15 games. He is batting .245 with four home runs and 16 RBIs in the 52 games he has played since.

Like Kemp, hitting coach Don Mattingly was also encouraged with what he saw on Friday. Batting leadoff in place of the absent Rafael Furcal, Kemp was 2 for 5 with a run-scoring triple to straightaway center that drove in one of the Dodgers’ three runs in the third inning.

The triple was particularly important to Mattingly, who said he is trying to get Kemp to shorten his swing and stay in the middle of the park.

Some players at Kemp’s stage of development become too pull-conscious. Kemp’s problem is the opposite.

“Sometimes Matt thinks too much to the opposite field,” Mattingly said.

Kemp said he was certain he would be able to turn around his season.

“I’m working with Donnie on getting my swing back, he said. “I’m going to get it back.”

Torre back in Boston

Seeing a crowd of reporters several times larger than he encounters on most days in Los Angeles, Manager Joe Torre said, “Oh yeah.”

So did Torre miss the visits to Fenway Park?

“I don’t respond to you anymore,” Torre said. Smiling, he continued, “Now that I’m here I have to get my arrogance back.”

As manager of the New York Yankees, Torre was a frequently visitor in Boston. Over the last couple of seasons, he has often told stories about how drained he used to be after a series against the Red Sox.

“Coming in here without a Yankee uniform on, I wondered what the difference would be,” Torre said.

What he found, he said, was a respectful crowd.

“The fans here were — I don’t want to say subdued because they’re never subdued — but they treated me fairly,” Torre said.

Not your typical ballpark

Torre and his coaches spent part of the team’s pregame meeting talking to the players about the unusual dimensions at Fenway Park.

“You can talk all you want but you have to go out there and walk around to sort of understand the difference,” Torre said.

Torre said he told his players that when they were on base, they had to take the dimensions in the ballpark into consideration. The 37-feet-high Green Monster in left field is only 310 feet away from home plate.

“You normally talk about, ‘Don’t make the first and third out at third base,’” Torre said. “It’s worth taking a gamble to get to third base here because you’re not score on a single to left from second base.”

Short hops

Furcal won’t rejoin the Dodgers until at least Tuesday, according to Torre, who spoke with the shortstop. Furcal is in his native Dominican Republic visiting an ailing relative…. Encouraged by complimentary messages he received from friends, Reed Johnson didn’t shave his Fu Manchu mustache even though the Dodgers lost on Sunday.

dylan.hernandez@latimes.com