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Chad Gaudin sidelined, Andre Ethier goes deep in Dodgers’ 6-4 loss

Dodgers starting pitcher Chad Gaudin
Dodgers starting pitcher Chad Gaudin
(Ben Margot / Associated Press)
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Interesting couple of days for the Dodgers’ pitching staff. Hyun-Jin Ryu goes down with a sore shoulder, Clayton Kershaw gets a tooth chipped and then loses again, and now on Saturday, they lost one of their best-looking rotation replacements.

Chad Gaudin started against the Rockies and had thrown two scoreless innings -- giving him six on the spring with nine strikeouts and no walks -- when he felt a “tweak” in his right biceps in the third inning.

He faced two batters, both reached base and later scored, and he left the game. All claimed they were simply going the cautionary route, which you can only hope.

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The Dodgers’ split-squad went on to fall, 6-4, in Scottsdale to the Rockies.

The Dodgers took an early lead on Andre Ethier’s two-run homer in the first inning. Ethier, who had a pair of hits in each of his previous two games, is making a late run. He also walked Saturday and was hit by a pitch. If the Dodgers aren’t taking notice, Ethier has to hope other teams needing a starting outfielder are.

Struggling Juan Uribe went three for three to raise his spring average to .214. Howie Kendrick continued his hot hitting, collecting two hits to lift his average to .419 while scoring twice.

Gaudin appeared to be pitching his way onto the staff, at least as a possible swing man. Gaudin did not pitch last season after failing his physical with a neck injury. The Dodgers open the season April 6.

The rest of the Dodgers pitchers had mixed results. Sergio Santos gave up two hits after taking over for Gaudin, but was not charged with a run. Santos remains a strong candidate to win a bullpen spot. In his seven appearances (seven innings), he’s been charged with one run on five hits and no walks, while striking out 10.

Right-hander Mike Adams, not signed until March 1, struggled in his third appearance. In his one inning, he gave up a pair of runs on two hits. Dustin McGowan, another candidate to replace Ryu in the rotation if he can’t start the season, threw two scoreless innings with a pair of strikeouts.

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