Matt Kemp

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.

PHOENIX -- There was a noticeable buzz in the Dodgers' clubhouse Wednesday morning. The previous night, traveling secretary Scott Akasaki had sent the players a text message informing them that a group led by Magic Johnson had agreed to buy the team. "I think that's tight, man," Matt Kemp said. "For Magic to be one of our owners. He knows what the Dodgers mean to L.A. Of course, Magic is real important to L.A. and the fans love him, so to get him to be a part of the Dodgers organization is a very good thing for us, and I think this is a pretty good day for the Dodgers.

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.

SAN DIEGO -- Matt Kemp is expected to be ready to play again when he is eligible to be activated from the 15-day disabled list on May 29, according to trainer Sue Falsone. “That is our goal,” Falsone said. Kemp was placed on the disabled list Monday with a strained left hamstring. The next day, Kemp received an injection of platelet-rich plasma. He had blood drawn and spun to isolate the platelets, which clot and promote healing. The platelets were injected into the site of the injury.

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.

Magic Johnson, the man who helped make L.A. a Lakers town as a player, will soon be an owner of the Dodgers. Will the presence of the ever-popular Johnson in the ownership group help the Dodgers reclaim the city from the hoopsters at Staples Center? Writers from around the Tribune Co. discuss the topic. Feel free to join the conversation by voting in the poll and leaving a comment of your own. Barry Stavro, Los Angeles Times In L.A. the sports buzz-meter points first to Kobe and the Lakers.

High price,poor product If you can't buy 'em, beat 'em. That could be the motto for Steven Cohen , the hedge-fund billionaire and runner-up in the bidding for the Dodgers. The San Diego Padres are up for sale, and Cohen is thought to be one of at least five potential buyers cleared by Major League Baseball to review the team's confidential financial data. Cohen already owns a small stake in his hometown New York Mets, but the majority owners of the Mets appear to have staved off the legal and financial distress that might have enabled Cohen to buy them out completely.

Davey Lopes was standing behind the batting cage earlier this week when he was visited by a ghost of a championship past. It was one of his former Philadelphia Phillies players, and he had a question. "He looked around the stadium and shook his head and was like, 'Man, what happened here?' " Lopes recalled Wednesday morning. "He was like, 'Didn't this used to be the Dodgers?' " During what is arguably the worst Dodgers season since they arrived here 53 years ago, that question has been asked often, but perhaps never more poignantly than this week, during a visit from the team the Dodgers used to be. Remember October 2009?

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.

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.

The Dodgers won another game, but lost another player. On the same day they defeated the defending World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals, 6-0, second baseman Mark Ellis underwent an emergency leg operation that is expected to sideline him for a minimum of six weeks. Ellis, who was injured when Tyler Greene of the Cardinals slid into him at second base the previous night, had blood and fluids drained from his left leg. He is scheduled to be hospitalized until Tuesday. He became the fourth Dodgers starter on the disabled list.

C.J. Wilson was the ace of the Texas Rangers' pitching staff last season. When the Angels signed Wilson and slotted him into the No. 4 spot of their starting rotation behind Jered Weaver, Dan Haren and Ervin Santana, the debate raged as to whether the Angels might have a better rotation than the Philadelphia Phillies. The Dodgers let Hiroki Kuroda go because they could not afford him. They signed Chris Capuano and Aaron Harang, assembling a rotation perceived as Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw and four innings-eaters in Capuano, Harang, Chad Billingsley and Ted Lilly.

Shortstop Dee Gordon was out of the Dodgers lineup Saturday. He probably won't be in the lineup for the next couple of days, either. Manager Don Mattingly figures that sitting Gordon for a few days could help the 24-year-old leadoff hitter slow down the game mentally and catch his breath. Gordon, who is in his first full season as the everyday shortstop, was the only starting position player to not reach base in a 6-5 victory over theSt. Louis Cardinalson Friday.

Shortstop Dee Gordon was out of the Dodgers lineup Saturday. He probably won't be in the lineup for the next couple of days, either. Manager Don Mattingly figures that sitting Gordon for a few days could help the 24-year-old leadoff hitter slow down the game mentally and catch his breath. Gordon, who is in his first full season as the everyday shortstop, was the only starting position player to not reach base in a 6-5 victory over theSt. Louis Cardinalson Friday.

Be patient, Rafael Furcal said. The kid who replaced him as the Dodgers starting shortstop will be fine. Furcal played at Dodger Stadium on Friday, marking the first time he had done so since the Dodgers traded him last year to the St. Louis Cardinals. Furcal, who spent the previous 5 1/2 years with the Dodgers, went into the game hitting .367, second in the National League. Dee Gordon , who made Furcal expendable in the view of Dodgers management, had a batting average of .207 and an on-base percentage of .247.

Ten more days until Matt Kemp is eligible to return from the disabled list. But as Kemp remains stuck on the railing of the Dodgers' dugout recovering from a strained hamstring, something strange is happening. The Dodgers continue winning. The Dodgers' 6-5 walk-off victory over the defending World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals wasn't the most aesthetically pleasing of their National League-leading 26 wins, but it was probably their most significant. Immediately after closer Kenley Jansen served up a tying solo home run to pinch-hitter Lance Berkman in the top of the ninth inning, the Dodgers loaded the bases for catcher A.J. Ellis, who drew a walk-off walk off Fernando Salas.

Be patient, Rafael Furcal said. The kid who replaced him as the Dodgers starting shortstop will be fine. Furcal played at Dodger Stadium on Friday, marking the first time he had done so since the Dodgers traded him last year to the St. Louis Cardinals. Furcal, who spent the previous 5 1/2 years with the Dodgers, went into the game hitting .367, second in the National League. Dee Gordon , who made Furcal expendable in the view of Dodgers management, had a batting average of .207 and an on-base percentage of .247.