Andre Ethier

PHOENIX — Andre Ethier said Tuesday he does not plan to impose a deadline on negotiations on the contract extension that could keep him out of free agency. Dodgers General Manager Ned Colletti has said he would like to re-sign Ethier and has discussed the idea with Dodgers President Stan Kasten , who took office three weeks ago. Ethier said Tuesday he and his agent have not received a formal contract proposal from the Dodgers. Ethier also said he did not anticipate a point where free agency could be so close that he would put any contract talks on hold before he could test the market.

PHOENIX — The hitting wasn't there. You could see that coming. The Dodgers had not thrown out a lineup without Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp all season. The pitching, well, that was a little off. The Arizona Diamondbacks scored early and often Wednesday, pounding Ted Lilly and Jamey Wright for 11 runs in the first five innings of an 11-4 victory over the Dodgers. The Dodgers' six-game winning streak came to an abrupt end. Nonetheless, the Dodgers (30-14) flew home with the best record in the major leagues, and a seven-game lead in the National League West.

Reporting from Tucson, Ariz. -- Would LSU have beaten Alabama for the BCS championship this football season if Zach Lee were their quarterback? Lee laughed at the question. “It's all 'what ifs' you know?” Lee said. “You never know. We may not have gotten there if I was the quarterback.” The former two-sport star, who the Dodgers paid $5.25 million to walk away from a football scholarship at LSU, pitched in his first major league game Friday. The 20-year-old right-hander tossed a perfect seventh inning in the Dodgers' 17-4 thrashing of the Chicago White Sox, forcing two groundouts and striking out Jose Martinez.

PHOENIX — As hockey fever grips Los Angeles, Dodgers President Stan Kasten said he plans to explore whether the Kings could play in an NHL Winter Classic game at Dodger Stadium. "Facility-wise, we could certainly handle it," Kasten said. The NHL has yet to award its New Year's Day showcase to a warm-weather city. The Dodgers could offer baseball's largest stadium and the iconic backdrop of the San Gabriel Mountains. Kasten, former president of the NHL Atlanta Thrashers, said technology would allow ice to remain playable for an outdoor hockey game at Dodger Stadium but said he was unsure if the league would be interested.

Six weeks into the season, Andre Ethier can report his surgically repaired right knee is holding up fine. "Everything feels good," he said. Ethier entered Saturday as the National League leader in runs batted in with 32. While teammate Matt Kemp's home run prowess has gained national attention, Ethier has quietly driving in runs on a consistent basis. "I know what my job is here hitting fourth - giving Matt protection," he said. "Not too many people want to pitch to him no matter what protection is behind him, but I'm just there to pick him up. " Opposing pitchers are becoming increasingly hesitant to pitch to Kemp, who went into Saturday as the National League co-leader in home runs with 12. Kemp walked once every 7.5 plate appearances last month.

The Dodgers scratched outfielder Andre Ethier from their Saturday lineup after he complained of what the team called "mild mid-back stiffness" during batting practice. The Dodgers listed his status as day-to-day. Ethier also reported back stiffness during the Dodgers' first full-squad workout this spring. He left the field to receive treatment and returned to the workout. Ethier has five hits in his first eight Cactus League at-bats. He has reported no problems with his surgically repaired right knee.

PHOENIX — Those were quite the exciting games Tuesday, two rowdy Arizona crowds on the edge of their seats and at the top of their lungs in creating a hostile environment for the visiting team from Los Angeles. Beat L.A.? Maybe another year. The NHL's Coyotes? Done, thanks to the Kings. The Diamondbacks? They might be just about done, thanks to the Dodgers, and to an increasingly unlikely cast of characters. "I've got to go clean my hair now," Ivan De Jesus said.

More than a third of the regular season is left and Andre Ethier has established a career high in home runs. Ethier, who hit 20 long balls last season, hit home run No. 21 on Friday and No. 22 on Saturday. The total is the most by a Dodger since Jeff Kent hit 29 in 2005. "You're pleased with it," Ethier said. "You're happy. You come in feeling like you can do it and like you should, but it's always a different story when you have to go out there and put the bat on the ball and execute."

PHOENIX - Andre Ethier said Wednesday morning that it was too early to say how the Dodgers' sale could affect his future. Ethier is under contract this year for $10.95 million. He will be eligible for free agency at the end of the season. He said he wasn't sure if he was any more optimistic about remaining a Dodger beyond this season. “It's way too early to even play those games in your mind right now,” he said. “It's a proven group, a lot of proven winners and people who want to win, but we still don't know what their goals are going to be coming in. It's that whole thing of don't look too far ahead, just be focused on right now. If we do our job, then everything will work out.” But Ethier sounded as if he would be open to discussing a contract extension during the season.

The Dodgers need to investigate Andre Ethier's aversion to hitting singles this spring. They might mention they are allowed, though it's just possible they are completely fine with his swing. I mean, given that he's simply been tearing the ball up all spring. Ethier continued his Ruthian ways Friday against the Brewers, hitting a double and home run, each driving in a pair of runs - and all the Dodgers' runs - in a 9-4 loss at Camelback. In a split-squad game against the Cubs in Mesa, the Dodgers won, 6-3, behind a two-run triple by Dee Gordon.

PHOENIX — Andre Ethier said Tuesday he does not plan to impose a deadline on negotiations on the contract extension that could keep him out of free agency. Dodgers General Manager Ned Colletti has said he would like to re-sign Ethier and has discussed the idea with Dodgers President Stan Kasten , who took office three weeks ago. Ethier said Tuesday he and his agent have not received a formal contract proposal from the Dodgers. Ethier also said he did not anticipate a point where free agency could be so close that he would put any contract talks on hold before he could test the market.

PHOENIX — Those were quite the exciting games Tuesday, two rowdy Arizona crowds on the edge of their seats and at the top of their lungs in creating a hostile environment for the visiting team from Los Angeles. Beat L.A.? Maybe another year. The NHL's Coyotes? Done, thanks to the Kings. The Diamondbacks? They might be just about done, thanks to the Dodgers, and to an increasingly unlikely cast of characters. "I've got to go clean my hair now," Ivan De Jesus said.

PHOENIX -- For the second time in a major league career that has lasted all of two weeks, Scott Van Slyke found his name in the Dodgers' starting lineup. The first time, he batted third. On Monday, he batted fourth. "Necessity is a good word," Manager Don Mattingly said. "I'd feel better if he were back there hitting sixth or seventh and not in the heart of the order. "I don't mean that in a bad way toward him. " The Dodgers had 10 home runs in their injury-depleted starting lineup Monday - eight from Andre Ethier , one from Justin Sellers and one from Van Slyke.

PHOENIX - If this were spring training, the Dodgers would have been fined for that lineup. But, in this magical regular season, the Dodgers won with that lineup. No Matt Kemp? No one named Ellis? No matter. The Dodgers dumped the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday, 6-1, dropping the defending National League West champions a staggering 101/2 games back barely six weeks into the season. In spring training, the commissioner's office can fine teams that field a lineup with fewer than four significant players.

SAN DIEGO — Based on his conversations with the Dodgers' new owners, General Manager Ned Colletti expects to have more financial flexibility at the July 31 nonwaiver trade deadline than he's had in recent years. "If we have a chance to improve our club, they're open-minded to doing it and everything that it entails," Colletti said. That could mean making significant additions to the payroll. President Stan Kasten recently acknowledged the Dodgers "don't have the warehouse of prospects we wish we had. " Without prospects to trade, the Dodgers probably won't be able to make any meaningful acquisitions unless they agree to inherit millions of dollars in salaries from non-contenders looking to shed payroll.

SAN DIEGO - Eleven more days until Matt Kemp is eligible to return from the disabled list. Kemp's absence was of minimal consequence Thursday, as the first-place Dodgers trampled the last-place San Diego Padres, 8-1, to earn a split of a two-game series at Petco Park. The Dodgers improved to 25-13, including 2-2 since Kemp was placed on the disabled list with a strained hamstring. But the void could be a significant factor in the coming days when the Dodgers host the defending World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals in a three-game series that starts Friday.

SAN DIEGO — Based on his conversations with the Dodgers' new owners, General Manager Ned Colletti expects to have more financial flexibility at the July 31 nonwaiver trade deadline than he's had in recent years. "If we have a chance to improve our club, they're open-minded to doing it and everything that it entails," Colletti said. That could mean making significant additions to the payroll. President Stan Kasten recently acknowledged the Dodgers "don't have the warehouse of prospects we wish we had. " Without prospects to trade, the Dodgers probably won't be able to make any meaningful acquisitions unless they agree to inherit millions of dollars in salaries from non-contenders looking to shed payroll.

Nobody will outpoint Albert Pujols in balloting for the National League most-valuable-player award, but Andre Ethier probably should finish among the top five vote-getters. . . . Milton Bradley , dumped by the Dodgers in a trade for Ethier, has never finished higher than 17th in the voting. . . . Torii Hunter , dismissing talk of a September series being a playoff preview, told reporters this week, "The playoffs are totally different. Some guys show up and some guys don't."

SAN DIEGO — Twelve more days until Matt Kemp is eligible to return from the disabled list. If the Dodgers' 4-2 defeat to the San Diego Padres on Wednesday was any indication, they could be the 12 longest days of the season. With Kemp unavailable and Manager Don Mattingly fielding what look like triple-A lineups, the Dodgers have scored a combined three runs in their last two games, both losses. Chris Capuano (5-1) left two pitches up in the strikezone to Chase Headley and that was enough to send him tumbling to his first defeat of the season.

Less than two weeks after being released by the Angels, Bobby Abreu is making his presence felt with the Dodgers. The 38-year-old outfielder entered Tuesday batting .296 (eight for 27) since joining the Dodgers on May 4, with four doubles and four runs batted in. That included a bases-clearing double that helped lead the Dodgers to an 11-5 win over the Colorado Rockies on Sunday. "I feel comfortable at the plate, no problems, and I've been swinging the bat OK," said Abreu, a left-handed batter.