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LOS ANGELES, May 2 (UPI) -- Los Angeles Dodgers infielder Andre Ethier says he'll take the single that stretched his hitting streak to 27 games but downplayed its significance. In the seventh inning Sunday, Ethier lined a 1-0 pitch that bounced off the outstretched glove of diving San Diego first baseman Brad Hawpe and rolled back toward second base, allowing Ethier to reach first easily.
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The hit moved him within four games of the longest hitting streak in Dodgers history, set by Willie Davis in 1969. Ethier is now tied with Duke Snider (1953) and Joe Medwick (1942) and is two games short of the 29-game streak Zack Wheat put together in 1916.
It took a few moments, before the scoreboard flashed "base hit" for Ethier and the crowd could cheer, MLB.com reported.
"If they put a hit, they put an error, whatever," Ethier said. "I'm not going to throw my hands up or anything like that. ... Just trying to figure out a way to get the job done and get on base and get things going and rolling. I would have taken a walk, error, hit anything that gives us a chance to start scoring runs, especially in a ballgame like that where not much offense is being shown."
The Dodgers lost the game 7-0.
Ethier's still just over halfway to Joe DiMaggio's major league mark of 56 straight in 1941, a fact not lost on the 29-year-old Dodger.
"There's one reason to talk about the streak and that's because of breaking it," he said. And let's be real here -- we're not even halfway there. I don't understand what the big deal is."
