LOS ANGELES -- For the second straight game, the Dodgers will be without All-Star third baseman Justin Turner.
After taking a pitch off his hand vs. the Phillies, Turner's thumb is still "point tender," manager Dave Roberts said, and Turner is trying to recover from a stomach virus he came down with Thursday night.
Turner wasn't available to pinch-hit Saturday night, but Roberts hopes to get him back healthy by Sunday or Monday. With the season winding down and the Dodgers have already clinched the National League West, Roberts isn't worried about Turner being rusty for the postseason.
"I don't think he's going to need too many [games] to get ready for the postseason," Roberts said. "For him, No. 1, we just got to get him healthy."
Entering Saturday, the Dodgers held a two-game lead over the Indians for the best record in baseball and a 5 1/2-game lead over the Nationals for home-field advantage throughout the NL playoffs. While clinching home field would be nice for the Dodgers, Roberts said he just wants to keep momentum heading into October and figure out the postseason roster.
And as the Dodgers continue to consider options for the postseason, with the way Andre Ethier has played since coming off the disabled list, Adrian Gonzalez could be the odd man out. Roberts said Gonzalez is still being considered for the Dodgers' postseason roster.
Ethier entered Saturday batting .296 with two homers and three RBIs in 17 games and had made six starts in left field. Ethier has also been in a bench role in the postseason before, notably last season hitting a homer off Jonathan Lester in the first game of the NL Championship Series vs. the Cubs.
Gonzalez went on the disabled list with an elbow injury for the first time in his career at the beginning of the season and has battled a herniated disk that landed him on the DL at the All-Star break. Since returning from the DL on Aug. 18, Gonzalez has a .197/.231/.328 slash line with a home run.
"Andre's come off the bench over the last two, three years," Roberts said. "It's a tough role, arguably one of the toughest things in baseball. To have done that obviously helps him, and Adrian's been an everyday player his entire career. Being a bench player and coming off the bench is completely foreign to him."