Hanley Ramirez, Andre Ethier back in Dodgers’ lineup for NLCS Game 4

The Dodgers’ lineup news for Tuesday’s Game 3 is it will be the same crew as Monday.

Now maybe that doesn’t sound like news, but if you were sending guys on the field with duct tape hanging out of their sleeves, it qualifies as a bulletin.

Hanley Ramirez and his broken rib are back at shortstop hitting third and Andre Ethier and his sore ankle are back in center and batting fifth. For Manager Don Mattingly, not going backward is actually progress.

“We’re not going to get a huge difference in the way they feel from day to day, going from feeling great all of a sudden,” Mattingly said. “As long as we don’t go backward, we know that we have them at least that level. So they’re both good today and back in there.”

Ramirez went 2-for-4 Monday with an RBI, while Ethier went 0-for-4.

The Dodgers’ bigger news, and gamble, was deciding to go ahead with right-hander Ricky Nolasco, who was passed over in the division series, hasn’t started a game since Sept. 25 and has a 12.75 ERA in his last three starts. But they had to start him sometime, so might as well be at home.

The lineup for Game 4 of the National League Championship Series:

Carl Crawford LF
Mark Ellis 2B
Hanley Ramirez SS
Adrian Gonzalez 1B
Andre Ethier CF
Yasiel Puig RF
Juan Uribe 3B
A.J. Ellis C
Ricky Nolasco P