ST. LOUIS (AP) Star shortstop Hanley Ramirez was a late lineup scratch for the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 2 of the NL championship series because of sore ribs that hindered his swing, and his availability was in doubt for Game 3.
Manager Don Mattingly learned X-rays were negative during Saturday's 1-0 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals put them down 2-0 in the best-of-seven series.
"I don't know what that means at this point," Mattingly said. "If he can move and be able to swing the bat, then he'd be able to play.
"So, I don't know where that's going to go."
A CT scan was scheduled for Sunday, a day off for both teams. Ramirez was hit by a pitch in the ribs in the first inning of Game 1.
"It hurts," Ramirez said. "We just want to make sure we do everything we can do to fix it."
Ramirez batted .500 (8 for 16) in the division series against Atlanta, tying the NL division record with six extra-base hits, with a homer and six RBIs.
Andre Ethier was out with lingering soreness after making his first postseason start in Game 1 and playing 13 innings in center field. Ethier struck out pinch-hitting to end the game.
Earlier in the day, Mattingly had described Ramirez as "iffy" and a gametime decision. Not long after Ramirez made a leaping catch on a soft liner by Matt Holliday in the bottom of the first Friday night, he was bent over in the dugout and getting medical attention.
Ramirez said the decision was made at the "last minute."
"I was trying to go all day," Ramirez said. "I tried to hit and it didn't work the way we wanted it to work."
Skip Schumaker started in center field in place of Ethier and Nick Punto started at shortstop, batting seventh and eighth.
Carl Crawford and Mark Ellis remained in the top two spots of the order and the rest moved up a slot with Adrian Gonzalez batting third and Yasiel Puig at cleanup.
Puig struck out all four at-bats and is 0 for 10 the first two games.
