lOS ANGELES -- After going scoreless in their last 19 innings, the Dodgers welcome a pair of reinforcements for Game 3 of the NLCS. Both Hanley Ramirez and Andre Ethier are back in the starting lineup on Monday night, playing through injuries.
Ramirez has a hairline fracture of his eighth left rib, one that makes it very painful to laugh, to cough, even to sleep, let along swing a bat. After taking grounders at shortstop and hitting several home runs during batting practice, Ramirez declared his return to the lineup.
"I don't know how I'm going to do it, but I'm going to do it," Ramirez said. "I owe too much to this team, to this city not to play."
Ethier has a sprained left ankle that kept him out of Game 2, unable to effectively play center field. But he was able to convince manager Don Mattingly he could play on Monday.
"It feels about the same. It's not sharp, but I can definitely go out there and play," Ethier said. "Let's strap it on and go."
Yasiel Puig, 0-for-10 with six strikeouts, is batting sixth, the lowest i the batting order he has started in a major league game. Mattingly said Sunday that moving Puig around in the order wouldn't likely affect how the Carinals approach him.
"I don't think anything's going to change the way they pitch him. Yadier's going to pitch to guys to get them out. They're going to use their weapons however they have to. It's not like you're going to move him somewhere and forget about him," Mattingly said. "We'll continue to talk to him, and as much as anything else, for him to get himself good pitches to hit, and just got to keep going."
Game info
Time: 5:07 p.m.
TV: TBS