Ethier expects to be fine after tweaking ankle

LOS ANGELES -- Dodgers outfielder Andre Ethier downplayed an irritated left ankle that forced him out of Friday night's 4-2 loss to the Giants after he doubled in the eighth inning.

He received treatment for 45 minutes after the game and said the ankle felt "good."

"Show up tomorrow and see if I'm ready to go," he said.

Manager Don Mattingly said Ethier was "fine" after a day off last week and was hopeful of a repeat.

"I expect him to be OK," he said. "I'm sure we'll be cautious with him."

With the Dodgers trailing, 4-2, Ethier grounded a pitch off left-hander Javier Lopez inside first base and down the right-field line. Three steps after rounding first base, Ethier began limping and hobbled into second base.

After a brief meeting with Mattingly at the bag, Ethier was replaced by pinch-runner Dee Gordon.

"I was asked the question, on a ground ball, could I score?" Ethier said. "I wasn't sure if I could really make the turn to do it. I felt it on the first turn when I tried to go to second."

Ethier said he believes he twisted the ankle swinging at an inside pitch in Colorado, apparently on Sept. 3, as he was out of the lineup Sept. 4 against left-hander Jorge De La Rosa but had one at-bat after being inserted into the game in the seventh inning.

He started the next five games, sat out Wednesday night's game against Arizona when the ankle tightened and returned to the lineup Thursday night.

Either said the injury bothers him turning, mostly when rounding a base. He said he doesn't feel it running straight.

Ethier's injury comes one night after Hanley Ramirez left a game with an inflamed nerve in his lower back, while Matt Kemp continues a very slow rehab in Arizona from ankle and hamstring problems.