Hanley exits with bruised right thumb

LOS ANGELES -- Just when a Dodgers offense that was in the slow lane started to pick up speed, Hanley Ramirez was removed in the fourth inning of Saturday night's 6-3 victory over Colorado with what the club described as a bruised right thumb.

X-rays were negative, and he's day to day, complicating the situation for the Dodgers, who are playing with only a four-man bench and 13 pitchers.

"We're hoping it's not too bad," manager Don Mattingly said. "He was off [Sunday] anyway. We talked five days ago and he knew he was going to get [Sunday] off."

The injury happened in the third inning during Ramirez's second at-bat. He said Rockies starter Juan Nicasio jammed him with a pitch, and the knob of the bat bruised the bone toward the base of his thumb.

"I'm good," Ramirez said. "It had nothing to do with my surgery [last year]."

Ramirez roped a double to right-center in his first at-bat Saturday night, then bounced an RBI grounder to shortstop in the third inning. He was removed at the end of the inning, replaced by Justin Turner.

Ramirez was drilled in the left hand by a Ryan Vogelsong pitch last week in San Francisco. He then went 1-for-15 with five strikeouts, but insisted that the hand was OK.

During the current homestand, Ramirez is 8-for-35 with four doubles. Before Saturday's game, Mattingly said he liked the way Ramirez has been swinging.

"Hanley looks good," Mattingly said. "The way he's swinging the bat the last three days, I think he's gotten past that hand thing."