Andre Ethier nicely flaired a 1-2 changeup against Ryan Dempster in the 4th inning that just barely got over the glove of the leaping 2nd baseman Darwin Barney which extended his hitting streak to 29 straight games (his only hit of the night in 4 at bats). It also tied Ethier for 2nd place on the all-time Dodgers franchise (aka-Brooklyn Robins as they were then known as) list with Zack Wheat who’s 29 in a row came back in 1916. But it was all a moot point to the current Dodgers who lost a tough one 4-1 to the Chicago Cubs.

L.A. played small ball in the 6th inning with newcomer Jerry Sands sacrificing Jamey Carroll to 2nd base on only the 2nd sac bunt in Sands pro career (1st in the majors) and then Matt Kemp singled in Carroll to give the Dodgers a brief 1-0 lead. Carlos Pena then tied it on a long solo bomb of off starter Chad Billingsley into the Dodgers bullpen, which unfortunately skipper Don Mattingly had to eventually use. And once again ‘sort of’ closer Jonathan Broxton came in wild issuing back to back walks and then a 2-run double to Giovany Soto and that was all the Cubs needed.

After the game, I spoke with all of the principles including Mattingly who could only scratch his head in trying to answer questions about who the real Broxton is right now and if there’s an injury or not?

Don Mattingly with Ted Sobel:

I was the last of the electronic media to wait for Ethier after the game and as he walked towards me and his locker, it was obvious he was not in the best mood to speak about the streak after this loss. But at least he did give me the best line of the night (and it did come from his heart) when I told him that he had tied the great Zack Wheat for 2nd longest hitting streak in franchise history. Andre’s reply was “Zack Who?” (only a Hall of Famer who to this day is still the all-time Dodgers franchise leader in hits, doubles, triples, total bases and games played) …

Andre Ethier with Ted Sobel:

Chad Billingsley with Ted Sobel:

Jonathan Broxton with Ted Sobel:

Jamey Carroll with Ted Sobel:

Tomorrow is a noon start as Ethier will face Cubs righthander Carlos Zambrano and if Andre makes it 30 straight, he’ll be just one shy of the Dodgers longest ever hitting streak set by Willie Davis (3-Dog did it in 1969). Then the Dodgers will hit the road opening a weekend series at the NY Mets on Friday with 1-4 lefty Jonathon Niese going for the Metropolitans as the Ethier watch continues-whether he likes it or not?