BaseballAll-Star outfielder Andre Ethier was held out of the Dodgers’ lineup yesterday because of a sore right knee, and the team is disputing the nature of the injury. Ethier went public with his problem in yesterday’s Los Angeles Times, which caused a clamor throughout the clubhouse and resulted in a 15-minute closed-door meeting with manager Don Mattingly and general manager Ned Colletti. Ethier’s remarks to a columnist gave the impression that he had repeatedly told the Dodgers he couldn’t play and that they insisted he did. Mattingly denied that implication. “I was a little taken back by it,” Mattingly said. “I talked to ’Dre about it to see if he felt that the way it came out was accurate. To me, the way I read it, was that ’Dre’s been telling us he can’t play and we just said: ‘Well, you’re playing, anyway.’ And that’s definitely not the case. I would never do that. That’s not part of my DNA. To me, that takes a shot at my integrity, the organization, the training staff, and Ned. But it really gets back to me, personally — that I would put a guy out there that was hurt and was taking a shot at hurting his career. I would never do that. And I told ’Dre that, too.”
Ethier, Dodgers at odds over an injury
Sports log
Indians’ Brantley done for seasonIndians outfielder Michael Brantley will have surgery to remove part of the hamate bone in his right hand and will miss the rest of the season. Brantley played with tendinitis in his wrist for several weeks, but the soreness subsided with treatment and rest. He recently felt pain in his hand and tests revealed the fractured bone. The Indians recalled outfielder Jerad Head from Triple A Columbus and sent down lefthander Nick Hagadone … Giants lefthander Jonathan Sanchez might be done for the season with a left ankle sprain that isn’t improving … Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre, out since July 23 with a strained left hamstring, will begin a rehab assignment today … The Rangers are providing no information on the condition of a 24-year-old male fan knocked unconscious Saturday after falling 21 feet in a stairwell while leaving a game at Rangers Ballpark. Nearly two months ago, Brownwood firefighter Shannon Stone died after tumbling about 20 feet to concrete behind the left-field wall when he reached out to catch a baseball tossed his way.
