All calm now? Everybody’s exhaled, visualized tranquil waters, got all comfy in their half-lotus position?

Seems the media-inspired frenzy over Don Mattingly’s future as the Dodgers manager has abated for the moment. Anyway, let’s hope.

After a well-timed off-day that did not include his firing, the Dodgers return to play Friday, which at this point could almost serve as a pleasant diversion.

Andre Ethier will also likely return to the lineup, and much to the chagrin of some, Mattingly to the bench, where if nothing else he seems slightly more their leader than a week ago.

Of course, in the interim there was that nasty sweep in Atlanta that begot rampant media speculation that the end was near, at least for Mattingly. And speculation was all it was, not one report even attempting to name a Dodgers source as its inspiration.

So perhaps the Dodgers return more focused than at any time this season, which would be the good news. The bad would be, they return to face the...

Somewhere down on Don Mattingly’s list of problems – six starters already on the disabled list, bullpen meltdown, inability to drive in runs and (oh, yeah) job security – there is this:

Roster dead weight.

It didn’t have the makings of a strong bench when the season began, most of the team resources going into the lineup and rotation, but it’s even more feeble than expected.

Everyone understood it would have no power. General  Manager Ned Colletti loves those scrappy, versatile types, which would explain a roster that was set up to have Nick Punto, Skip Schumaker, Juan Uribe and Jerry Hairston Jr. as its primary backups.

Except that with injured shortstop Hanley Ramirez missing most of the season so far and Luis Cruz proving worthless offensively, bench guys and players who were supposed to be in the minors are having to start.

Neither Dee Gordon (.167) nor Justin Sellers (.191) have hit a lick trying to replace Ramirez. Gordon is currently in an 0-for-22...

Now Wednesday was an interesting little day, no?

Yet oddly, the one guy who came out of the brouhaha looking the best was Andre Ethier.

That would be the often volatile Ethier, the player who’s been known to smash helmets after strikeouts, snap at reporters, flip the bird to photographers and just generally be handicapped by his own emotions.

Not Wednesday, though. Not this year, really.

Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly called out his team for lack of mental toughness before Wednesday’s game, and specifically Ethier, whom he benched against a right-handed starter.

Asked about the benching, Mattingly said he wanted to field a lineup “that’s going to fight and compete the whole day.”

Mattingly’s one mistake Wednesday was he addressed Ethier individually with reporters before the game without first letting his concerns be known directly to the outfielder.

Yet after the game, when presented with Mattingly’s comments, Ethier responded just as you would...

It has been a tough season so far for Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly. His team is underperforming, his contract runs out at the end of the season, and upper management hasn't exactly given him a lot of glowing endorsements publicly.

But should he be fired? Is he the reason the Dodgers are off to such a bad start?

Mattingly, after all, can't bat for these guys. It's the players who aren't hitting in clutch situations.

Mattingly can't pitch for these guys. He's not the one blowing save after save (I'm looking at you, Brandon League).

And Mattingly isn't a doctor. It's not his fault that seemingly half the team has been on the disabled list this season.

On the other hand, in the dugout, Mattingly shows all the emotion of a concrete wall. Umpire botches a play? Mattingly might go out and discuss it, but you rarely seem him get mad about anything. Some fans see that as a liability, thinking that you have to show emotion to raise the level of play in your players.

Either way, it's a good...

MILWAUKEE – Don Mattingly will be managing the Dodgers on Friday when they open a three-game series at home against the St. Louis Cardinals, according to two people familiar with the team’s plans.

Before the last-place Dodgers’ 9-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday, Mattingly made comments critical of his players, in particular Andre Ethier, inciting rampant media speculation that he could be managing his last game.

Mattingly said he wasn’t worried that he could be fired on the Dodgers’ day off on Thursday.

“Do I feel worried?” Mattingly said. “No, not really. Should I be?”

He laughed.

By questioning his team’s mental strength, Mattingly departed from his long-standing practice of defending his players.

His most pointed comments were directed at Ethier, whom he benched in favor of Scott Van Slyke. Asked why Ethier wasn’t in the lineup for the third time in six days, Mattingly explained that he wanted to...

A little shake-up, a benching, some direct comments and — presto! — the Dodgers were all better. For one game anyway, it seems Manager Don Mattingly did find that “Dodger Dust.”

After benching right-fielder Andre Ethier and lamenting the lack of competitiveness of his team before the game, Mattingly saw the Dodgers go out and bowl over the Brewers, winning 9-2 Wednesday to bring a moment’s calm to their growing storm.

Of course, it didn’t hurt that the Brewers started Wily Peralta (6.45 ERA) and the Dodgers started left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu. Ryu allowed a sixth-inning solo home run to Ryan Braun and one more in the eighth, but otherwise held the Brewers in check during his 7 1/3 innings.

It also didn’t hurt Ryu (5-2) any that the Dodgers gave him a rare 7-0 lead to work with after three innings.

They didn’t exactly crush the ball throughout all this scoring, but they strung enough hits and Brewers’ miscues together in the second...

If the Dodgers’ owners have not already decided to fire Don Mattingly, the manager all but fired himself on Wednesday.

In his latest and sharpest comments distancing himself from the organization, Mattingly appeared to criticize the Dodgers’ free-spending ways. Mattingly has pointed enough fingers at players and the front office over the past few days that he must either suspect his days are numbered — or he already knows that they are.

When Mattingly spoke with reporters in Milwaukee on Wednesday, as the manager of a last-place team with the highest payroll in baseball history, he said this: “It’s not just all, ‘Let’s go put an All-Star team out there and play games, and the team with the All-Star team wins.’ … All grit and no talent is not going to get you there, and all talent and no grit is not going to get you there. There’s got to be a mixture of both.”

If the owners recall what Mattingly said in spring training,...

People react differently when the pressure mounts, the screws tightened and disappointment is heightened.

Fair or not, Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly is a man under fire. He is clearly feeling the weight of growing discontent. And if he is going down for it all, he has apparently decided it will not be without a fight, belated or not.

Mattingly -- the players’ manager, the great defender of his team -- turned the other way before Wednesday’s game in Milwaukee. His patience has finally worn out.

As tactfully as he could manage, he called out his team, and Andre Ethier in particular, over its play this season.

Ethier was benched for the third time in six games, but this time not against a left-hander, but right-hander Wily Peralta and his 5.94 earned-run average. Mattingly thinly veiled his criticism when asked whether Ethier, and his $85-million contract, was now a part-time player.

“For me, today, I’m putting out my lineup that I feel is going to be the most...

Not even Mr. Perfect could save the Dodgers.

Fresh off a dominating performance by left-hander Clayton Kershaw, the Dodgers sent right-hander Zack Greinke out Tuesday against the Brewers in hopes of building a little momentum. It seemed like a good thing, what with Greinke owning a 15-0 career mark at Miller Park.

Alas, the way things have been going for the Dodgers, Greinke could have been 150-0 at Miller and it would not have mattered.

BOX SCORE: Milwaukee 5, Dodgers 2

Naturally, Greinke lost. Making just his second start since coming off the disabled list with a broken collarbone, at no time did he seem sharp, particularly when surrendering four runs in the fifth, the Brewers going on to a 5-2 victory.

So in his 25th career appearance at Miller Park, the former Brewer took his first loss.

He had to watch the Dodgers continue to squander scoring opportunities, which is their way thus far this season. The Dodgers had five at-bats with the bases loaded and managed one run. They were 3-...

If the Dodgers and Manager Don Mattingly dream of building momentum off Monday’s 3-1 victory in Milwaukee, they just may have the right guy on the mound Tuesday night.

Right-hander Zack Greinke is returning to one of his former haunts, and should be feeling pretty good about it.

Greinke, who spent a season and half with the Brewers, has never lost at Miller Park. He is 15-0 with a 2.89 ERA in 24 games at Miller, and the team 23-1 in those starts.

This is only Greinke’s second start since coming off the disabled list with a broken collarbone and fourth of the season, so grand expectations by the Dodgers might be risky.

But the Brewers know Greinke’s abilities well. He went 16-6 with a 3.83 ERA for them in 2011, leading Milwaukee into the playoffs.

“I think any time a pitcher or a hitter does well in a certain location, it makes a difference,” Brewers Manager Ron Roenicke said told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “Mentally, they have a good outlook...