Hanley to have CT scan on ribs after X-rays negative

ST. LOUIS -- Dodgers shortstop Hanley Ramirez had X-rays taken on his ribs during Game 2's 1-0 loss to the Cardinals in the National League Championship Series on Saturday, and they came back negative, but he said he will undergo a CT scan on Sunday because of the pain he felt trying to swing a bat.

Ramirez was drilled on the left side of his rib cage under the armpit in the first inning of Game 1 by a 95-mph Joe Kelly fastball. Ramirez stayed in the game and played all 13 innings in a 3-2 loss Friday. He went 0-for-2 with three walks, two of them intentional.

But he said as the game went on, the pain increased. He woke up sore and had treatment in the morning. Manager Don Mattingly put Ramirez in the original starting lineup, but told reporters that his shortstop could be a game-time scratch, which he was 45 minutes before first pitch.

"It hurts and we want to make sure we don't put anything at risk," Ramirez said of Sunday's scheduled test in Los Angeles. "We decided at the last minute [not to start]. I tried all day, did everything we can to play, but it hurt when I tried to hit and it didn't work the way we thought so we decided to get an X-ray.

"I want to make sure I'm able to swing. It was really painful. I took a swing off the tee and it hurt bad. It was getting worse and worse."

The rib injury is the latest in a season full of ailments for Ramirez, who opened the season on the disabled list after needing surgery for a torn thumb ligament suffered in the World Baseball Classic. He was also placed on the DL with a strained hamstring. In September, he became a part-time player while nursing an inflamed sciatica nerve that sent pain into the left hamstring.

All told, he played only 86 of the team's 162 games. But he said he wants to be cleared to play Game 3 on Monday (5 p.m. PT on TBS).

"Even if something's wrong, I want to go the way it feels," he said. This is our time and I'm going to do my best so I can play Monday."

Ramirez said he didn't think the pitch was intentional.

"I don't think so," he said. "A 1-2 count, first inning and he doesn't want to leave anything over the plate."

Dodgers outfielder Andre Ethier was also not in Saturday's starting lineup, though he struck out as a pinch-hitter to end the game.

Ethier played nearly all 13 innings of the Dodgers' Game 1 loss to the Cardinals, his first start since Sept. 13, when he suffered a microfracture in his lower left leg. He checked out clean in a postgame X-ray late Friday night.

Mattingly was optimistic Ethier could start Monday's Game 3. However, Ethier was limping Saturday while running turns in a brief workout in the outfield and was quickly shut down.

"Obviously, 13 innings was not optimal coming out of the gate," Mattingly said before Game 2. "If the game had gone right and we got him out of there after seven, we'd probably have him today. But at this point, we don't."