Joe Torre had just taken off for Taiwan, leaving Don Mattingly to manage his first game at any level, Mattingly saying a few hours earlier Wednesday, "It's not that complicated," just before batting the Dodgers out of order.

In hindsight, maybe a few games of experience as a Little League skipper might've been a good idea.

"Joe's somewhere on a plane, and it's a debacle out there," said Andre Ethier with a laugh after making the second out in the third inning, then two hitters later leading off the fourth with a home run.