Hyun-Jin Ryu ready to go for Game 3

Hyun-Jin Ryu ready to go for Game 3

LOS ANGELES -- Both Los Angeles Dodgers manager Don Mattingly and Game 3 starter Hyun-Jin Ryu said the pitcher was healthy and ready to go for Sunday's start against the Atlanta Braves in the NLDS at Dodger Stadium.

Questions had emerged about Ryu's status Friday when he took the unusual step of throwing a extra bullpen session in the presence of Mattingly and team doctor Neal El Attrache.

"No, not at all," Ryu said through an interpreter, when asked if the bullpen session was cause for concern. "Typically, when I rest longer than six days, I always squeeze in a bullpen session to make sure that my body is responding the way I want it to."

Said Mattingly: "We have no concerns about him. He's starting tomorrow."

Ethier still not ready for the outfield: Mattingly said Andre Ethier (ankle) was not ready to even try to play the outfield yet.

"It would be a great surprise if we get him to be in the outfield this series," Mattingly said. "But he's swung the bat well off the bench for us, and he's kind of doing what we intended him to be able to do this series. If we get anymore that, I think it would be just a nice surprise."

Rolling with Ricky: Mattingly said he still planned to start right-hander Ricky Nolasco in Monday's Game 4 and hadn't thought yet about potentially moving up Game 1 starter Clayton Kershaw, but added that "you're always going to have to think about everything. But right now we're scheduled with Ricky, and that's the way we're going to go."

Don Mattingly stands by decision

LOS ANGELES -- Don Mattingly didn't have had much time to sleep on some of the moves he made in the seventh inning of the Dodgers' 4-3 loss to the Atlanta Braves on Friday night in Game 2 of the NL Division Series.

The team charter didn't get back to Los Angeles until about 2 a.m. local time Saturday, and Mattingly and the Dodgers were required to be back at the stadium by midafternoon.

But in what little time he did have to reflect, he said he wouldn't have done anything differently.

"I think the situation in the game last night, no matter which way I go, it could be questioned," Mattingly said of his decision to lift right-hander Chris Withrow in the seventh inning for left-hander Paco Rodriguez, who surrendered what proved to be a game-winning two-run single to the left-handed hitting Jason Heyward. "If I leave Withrow in to pitch and give up a hit there, I'm going to question myself and I'm going to be like why didn't I use Paco? So it's one of those things that if move works, if the match-up works, it's good. If it doesn't, it's bad. So there is really nothing other than it not going the way I want it, that I would change."

Mattingly said that he does "go back through and look at every game." But he added that when he rehashed the situation in Game 2, "I don't look at it like we did anything crazy or something that we haven't been doing all year long."

Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen said he wholeheartedly supported Mattingly's decision in that spot, even though it didn't work out the way the Dodgers hoped.

"I would do the same thing, too, if I was the manager," Jansen said. "You have to go by the match-ups. Normally, Paco might get Heyward out. You've got to give the other team credit, too. Atlanta's a pretty tough team. We know that. They never give up, they never quit. We know that. You have to give Heyward credit for getting that hit.”

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Why then is Mattingly drawing such heavy criticism?

"Baseball is like that. There's always what-ifs," Jansen said. "If I go out there as a pitcher and I throw a slider and give up a hit, it's like, 'What if? Why didn't you throw your fastball?'

"But I feel like in that situation, Donnie did a tremendous job. You bring Paco in to face Heyward and most of the time, Heyward would've grounded out or Paco would have gotten him out. So you've got to tip your cap to them. They did a tremendous job against us."

Lost amid the decision to lift Withrow -- who would've faced the light-hitting Jose Constanza -- for Rodriguez, were the three critical double plays the Dodgers hit into Friday that squandered many of the 10 hits they managed off Braves pitchers.

"Yesterday we weren't able to get that key hit we needed," Mattingly said. "We don't get the key out, they do. ... It's back to the same thing. Can we execute when we need to? Can we do the things we need to do to win a game?"

Dodgers no iran detrás de Canó

Los Dodgers de Los Angeles no iran tras el segunda base dominicano Robinson Canó, quien se espera sea una de las piezas más grandes en el mercado de agentes libres en el próximo invierno, según le dijo el dueño de los Dodgers Magic Johnson al diario USA TODAY Sports.

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"No puedo hablar sobre el otro tipo", le dijo Johnson al diario el jueves, "pero ya ustedes saber que ese tipo en Nueva York va a conseguir su dinero. no con nosotros. Pero si lo va a conseguir".

Johnson dijo que la prioridad de los Dodgers es firmar de vuelta al as zurdo Clayton Kershaw, de acuerdo con el reporte. Lershaw ponchó a 12 contrarios en siete entradas en la victoria de los Dodgers 6-1 sobre los Bravos de Atlanta en el Juego 1 de la Serie Divisional de la Liga Nacional el jueves en la noche, y tuvo efectividad de 1.83 durante la temporada regular. Si Kershaw sigue con este tipo de actuaciones en la postemporada, es posible que su valor aumente considerablemente.

"No estamos preocupados por eso. Ya sabemos que le tendremos que dar mucho dinero. ¿Qué son unos cuantos ceros más, quiero decir, realmente?" le dijo Johnson al diario mientras se sonreía.

Los Dodgers tuvieron una nómina al Día Inaugural de $214.8 millones, convirtiéndose apenas en la segunda franquicia en todo el béisbol en sobrepasar la marca de los $200 millones. Mientras tanto, el actual equipo de Canó, los Yankees de Nueva York, han sobrepasado esa cifra en seis temporadas consecutivas.

Canó, de 30 años, batea de por vida .309 y promedia 28 cuadrangulares y 102 remolcadas en las últimas cinco temporadas, y se espera que consiga el contrato más grande de la historia para un intermedista. Fuentes le dijeron a Buster Olney de ESPN la semana pasada que es posible que Canó acepte la oferta más grande que reciba, independientemente de si viene de los Yankees o de otro equipo. Canó dijo que planifica tomarse su tiempo para decidir.

Johnson le dijo además al USA TODAY Sports que el equipo se va a sentar con el manager Don Mattingly, quien no ha recibido una extensión de contrato, luego de terminada la temporada.

"Donnie ha estado presionando los botones correctos", dijo Johnson, de acuerdo con el reporte, "y los fanáticos lo adoran. ... Pero este no es el momento para hablar de contratos ahora mismo. Luego que todo esto termine, todo el mundo verá donde estamos, y partiremos de ahí. Así que, ahora mismo, solo quiero disfrutarme este momento".