Hendrickson’s dream dies

The big lefty was working on a four-hit shutout until just now, when hit No. 5 (Garrett Atkins) got Willy Taveras home from second. That came on pitch No. 75, which was enough for Grady. Chin-hui Tsao just came on. But Hendrickson gave the Dodgers a solid effort in place of the injured Jason Schmidt. Hendrickson clearly proved that he can still be an effective starter in the big leagues, even on a good team and in an important game. Meanwhile, Jeff Kent and Luis Gonzalez continued to feast on Aaron Cook, starting a two-run, second-inning rally with back-to-back singles. Cook apparently was so freaked out by his inability to get either one out that he walked them both in the third, then walked Andre Ethier to force in another run. Kent is now 11 for 19 off Cook, and Gonzalez is 11 for 30. Cook, by the way, is out of the game. Steve Finley pinch hit for him at the start of this inning. … I called Katy Feeney, MLB’s senior vice president for scheduling, to ask about this one week that seems to happen early every season when teams squeeze a pair of two-game series into Monday through Thursday. She said there actually is a name for it. It’s called “Squeeze Week.” It is the result of having to cram 52 series into 26 weeks, which seems simple enough until you consider that half of one of those weeks is the All-Star break, which throws the whole thing off — and creates the need for Squeeze Week. Every team has to deal with it, but this year, the Dodgers, New York Mets and Pittsburgh Pirates are the only NL teams that have to deal with it all on the road. At least the Dodgers and Mets get to go home now. The Pirates have to fly to Los Angeles. The AL will have its Squeeze Week next week. … This is probably my last blog of the day. I apologize for so few postings, but when the game ends, I’m going to try to write my gamer and get out of here as quickly as I can because I have a big dinner date with a beautiful young lady. That would be 16-year-old daughter, who lives nearby and whom I haven’t seen in about three months. … Dodgers 5, Rockies 1, top 7