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Dodgers News: Andre Ethier Battling Heavy Legs, Tightness In Quad

Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports
Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

There wasn’t much that went wrong for the Los Angeles Dodgers in their shutout victory Thursday over the Philadelphia Phillies, giving the Dodgers a series win in the four-game set. Zack Greinke allowed one hit over eight frames and extended his scoreless innings streak to 35.2.

Yasiel Puig reported for early work and it paid off as he led the Dodgers with four RBIs — two coming on a fourth-inning double and two more on an eighth-inning home run. A minor bump in the road came with Andre Ethier, who was removed after six innings.



Ethier to that point had reached on an infield single, was hit by a pitch and drew a walk in what wound up being his final plate appearance on the night. “He was a little heavy-legged,” Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said after the game. “He was feeling a little bit of tightness in his quad.”

The decision was largely precautionary and a move Mattingly made with an eye on Friday’s series opener against the Milwaukee Brewers. “Hopefully those three innings [off] buy him another game tomorrow,” he said. With Puig going down early in the year and Carl Crawford soon after, Ethier has been key in filling in at both corner outfield positions.

In 79 games this season, 62 of which have been starts, Ethier is batting .279/.369/.480 with 10 home runs and 29 RBIs. He was particularly hot at the plate in May, slashing .306/.392/.482 over 27 games. The Brewers are slated to send a trio of right-handers to the mound during the series, which doesn’t necessarily create an obvious opportunity for Mattingly to rest Ethier.

Assuming Ethier manages to play Friday, he likely would be held out of the lineup for at least one of the final two games heading into the All-Star break.

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One Comment

  1. Where are all the people from a year ago who had given up on Andre? There were a lot of us, including sports analyst, who believed all along that the major problem with Andre was not getting consistent playing time. We have been proven right. Would be nice if the naysayers would admit they were wrong.

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