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After playing 12 innings in center field on a bad left ankle on Friday night, Andre Ethier is out of the starting lineup for the Dodgers in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series against the Cardinals at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.
Skip Schumaker starts in center field for the Dodgers, as he did in all four games of the NLDS against the Braves.
Ethier played the field in Game 1 for the first time in nearly a month. His last game in the field came on Sept. 13. Ethier was involved in a key play Friday night, unable to track down Carlos Beltran's two-run, game-tying double in the third inning. It would have been a very good play had he caught it, and perhaps was a ball he might have normally gotten to had his ankle been healthy and it wasn't his first time in the outfield grass in 28 days.
"Dre's a little sore today," manager Don Mattingly said on Saturday. "He was sore at the end of the game last night."
Mattingly said Ethier is available to pinch hit in Game 2 and could be double-switched into the game to play the field later in the game.
Scott Van Slyke finished up the game in center field for the Dodgers on Friday, his first major league game at the position. Van Slyke played 35 games in center field in the minors, but the last time was two games at the position in 2010 with Double-A Chattanooga.
Hanley Ramirez, who was hit in a pitch in the ribs in the third inning of Game 1, is in the lineup Saturday but could be a late scratch. Mattingly said whether Ramirez will remain in the lineup is a game-time decision.
"Hanley's sore today," Mattingly said. "He got it pretty good in ribs. He's a little iffy for me today."
The Dodgers have used the same lineup in five of their six postseason games, with the only change to the position players Ethier starting Friday night. The batting order has not changed in any of the games.
A.J. Ellis has caught every inning of every game so far for the Dodgers, and is back in the lineup nearly 15 hours after catching 13 innings — well, almost 13 innings — on Friday night.
The Cardinals have the same starting eight in Game 2 as they did in Game 1, but against southpaw Clayton Kershaw have moved down left-handed batters Matt Adams (from cleanup to sixth) and Jon Jay (from sixth to seventh), with Yadier Molina and David Freese now batting fourth and fifth, respectively.
Game info
Time: 1:07 p.m.
TV: TBS