Dodgers bat out of order in spring game

Mar 11, 2010 - 2:42 AM GLENDALE, Ariz.(AP) -- Don Mattingly's first day as Dodgers interim manager featured a humorous gaffe.

Los Angeles batted out of order against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday but Andre Ethier took advantage of the mix-up, leading off the fourth inning with his first spring homer.

The Dodgers and Diamondbacks called it off with the game tied at 4 after nine innings.

Ethier came to the plate twice in a span of three Dodgers batters. Crew chief Mike Winters wanted Ethier to hit behind Matt Kemp to adhere to the lineup card the Dodgers submitted to the umpires before the game.

Ethier went deep during the second of those at-bats.

Dodgers bench coach Bob Schaefer filled out the lineup cards, but the one posted in the dugout listed Ethier batting before Kemp.

"I could have avoided it simply by just checking the lineup card," said Mattingly, who is running the team while manager Joe Torre is with a split squad for three exhibition games in Taiwan. "We usually look at it before the game but I didn't even look at it."

Diamondbacks manager A.J. Hinch was aware the Dodgers were out of order and would have made an issue out of it if Kemp hadn't made the last out in the third inning with two runners on base.

"Somebody has to make a move for it to change, either us or them," Hinch said. "If they do it before they get penalized, everything is fine."

Diamondbacks starter Dan Haren pitched into the third inning for the first time this spring, allowing four hits over 2 2-3 scoreless innings. Former Dodger Tony Abreu, who came to Arizona last season in a trade for Jon Garland, went 3 for 4 with two runs.

Dodgers starter Vicente Padilla gave up one run on four hits in three innings with four strikeouts. Veteran Ramon Ortiz, in a battle for the No. 5 spot in the Dodgers' rotation, gave up one hit in three scoreless innings with two walks and three strikeouts.

The Diamondbacks tied it with one out in the ninth inning when A.J. Pollock scored from third base on a ground ball to shortstop by Jesse Wald. Dodgers shortstop Ivan DeJesus Jr. made an on-time throw to the plate but it was in the dirt.

The Diamondbacks scored a run in each of the last three innings, one each off veteran pitchers Jeff Weaver, Eric Gagne and Justin Miller.