Andre Ethier & the birthday hitting streak

Andre Ethier carries a three-game birthday hitting streak into Wednesday night's game against the Padres in Petco Park. Ethier, who turned 31 on Wednesday, is a lifetime .250 (4-for-16) hitter on Apr. 10, though all four hits have come in the last three years.

Ethier homered in 2012 on his 30th birthday, one of two hits on what was also the 50th anniversary of Dodger Stadium. "If I could kiss my twenties goodbye this is the way to do it," Ethier said after that game.

Ethier has a hit in all six games this season, and dating back to 2012 has a nine-game hitting streak, hitting .355/.412/.677 (11-for-34) during that span.

A.J. Ellis had a birthday Tuesday, but went 0-for-4.

Notes

• After two games off, Luis Cruz is back in the starting lineup, looking to snap his 0-for-17 skid.
• Unused quote from Tuesday night: Josh Beckett was unhappy with the location of his pitch in the fifth inning to Nick Hundley that was deposited into the seats in left field for a home run. "That pitch to Hundley was right down the middle. When these guys do tee work, that's the pitch they work with," Beckett said.
• Adrian Gonzalez (.536) and Carl Crawford (.519) are first and second in the National League in on-base percentage.
• Matt Calkins of the San Diego Union-Tribune wrote about the fan who caught Juan Uribe's home run ball Tuesday, then sold it for $100.
• Don Mattingly was a guest on the Darren Smith Show on 1090 AM in San Diego talking Dodgers, and Adrian Gonzalez on Wednesday.

Game info

Time: 7:10 p.m. PT

TV: Prime Ticket (check for your channel)

MLB Gameday