His next start against a lefty will be his first. But don’t dare call it a platoon. Grady said, as diplomatically as he possibly could and NOT in these exact words, that Ethier will play against lefties when he starts hitting righties. Ethier is batting .118 overall (2 for 17), which is almost as bad as Wilson Betemit’s .053 (1 for 19), and he’s sitting tonight, too. Ramon Martinez is starting at 3B for Betemit, and Brady Clark is starting in RF for Ethier. And yes, Furcal is starting at SS, and Grady says there is no need to take any unusual precautions with him like resting him every three or four days.