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ATLANTA -- The Dodgers are riding a rising blue tide into their first playoff series in four years and we’re not just talking about their fans. The experts are wholeheartedly on board, too, and remained so with full knowledge the Dodgers will be without Matt Kemp for the postseason and are not yet sure what they may get out of Andre Ethier against the Atlanta Braves.

ESPN asked its panel of experts to predict each of the playoff series and the Dodgers come out looking like heavy road favorites. You had to scroll down a few screens to get to the first voter who picked Atlanta, ESPN TV reporter Pedro Gomez. In all, 26 of ESPN’s crew took the Dodgers and six took the Braves.

Seems a bit strange at first glance, considering Atlanta went 5-2 against the Dodgers this year and pretty much dominated its division all season. The Dodgers were in last place going into July, took off like a bottle rocket in July and August and then settled into a blah September.

It’s pretty easy to see what makes them tick: feeling good. Before June 22, the Day the Season Changed, the Dodgers used the disabled list 20 times. After that, they used it five times. Toward the end of September, the injuries started cropping up again, like weeds you thought you’d pulled.

When they were unhealthy, they were bad. When they were healthy, they were great. When they were moderately healthy, they were mediocre.

By the way, the Braves -- who also had the luxury of a massive division lead -- didn’t exactly sail through September either, losing 13 of 24. So, momentum seems to be a wash.

We could get a good read on the Dodgers’ health in Game 2. If Hanley Ramirez, who has been on the on-again, off-again playing regime for weeks because of an irritated nerve in his back, plays Friday, that is good news for the Dodgers. It might mean they’ll have their frontline guys all series.

Ramirez had a strained hamstring when the Braves and Dodgers met in May.

“I feel good,” Ramirez said Sunday. “I think what we’ve been doing -- one game, one off -- it’s been helping me a lot. Now it’s about to get real.”

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LOS ANGELES -- The book closed Saturday on another stellar regular season for Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Zack Greinke.

He was the tough-luck loser in a 1-0 defeat at the hands of the visiting Colorado Rockies, but Greinke still finished with a 15-4 record and 2.63 ERA for the NL West champions.

What lies ahead is his second career trip into the postseason. Greinke said he’s satisfied with how he’s pitching.

“It could be worse, that’s for sure,” he said.

Greinke said the only thing that separated this regular season from his AL Cy Young year of 2009 was his consistency. He went 16-8 that year with a 2.16 ERA for a Kansas City Royals team that finished last in the AL Central with a 65-97 record.

“I was more consistent that year and didn’t have any spots where I pitched bad,” he said. “Like this year, there was about a month where it was ugly.”

Greinke then gestured to his left, to the locker stall belonging to left-hander Clayton Kershaw, who is likely to win the NL Cy Young after leading the majors with a 1.83 ERA and the NL with 232 strikeouts.

“Kersh had no bad stretches,” Greinke said. “That’s what you’ve got to do to have a good year like that.”

Despite the late-season injuries that have popped up among his positional players, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said he feels confident heading into Thursday’s opener of the NL Division Series -- at the St. Louis Cardinals or Atlanta Braves -- knowing he has the 1-2 punch that can wreak havoc in a playoff series.

“When those guys take the ball, you feel like you’re going to win,” Mattingly said. “It’s pretty much quality start after quality start.”

SAN FRANCISCO -- The offense has stalled. They have frittered away a chance at home-field advantage. Their momentum heading into the playoff is virtually exhausted.

All of which means what, exactly, when the bright lights come on somewhere other than at Dodger Stadium next Thursday, when the Dodgers begin the postseason on national TV? Depends on whom you ask. To manager Don Mattingly, it's all meaningless -- though he used a stronger word for it.

"You know, I'd like to see all kinds of things. I'd love to see us go out and get 10 runs a night and throw shutouts and everybody get their outs, but I'm going to be honest with you, I don't think any of it's going to matter one bit," Mattingly said. "What's going to matter is the game next Thursday."

If Mattingly's words don’t convince you, perhaps his lineups will. Yet Thursday was one of those evenings when Mattingly started nearly all of his frontline guys, with catcher A.J. Ellis the only healthy regular who wasn't in the starting lineup.

And still, they allowed Tim Lincecum to turn back the clock a couple of years in what may have been his final start as a Giant in a 3-2 Dodgers loss.

The Dodgers were eliminated from the race for best record in the National League. And, unless the St. Louis Cardinals implode this weekend at home against the last-place Chicago Cubs and the Dodgers sweep the Colorado Rockies, the Dodgers will begin the playoffs on the road.

The bigger worry is that the Dodgers can't generate any momentum going into October. Lately, they seem to be gazing ahead at the playoffs rather than focusing on these final regular-season games. They're 6-9 since Sept. 10.

Angel Pagan hit the go-ahead home run in the eighth inning off reliever Paco Rodriguez, who hadn't pitched in more than a week. One of the Dodgers' best relievers has been struggling for a solid month.

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SAN FRANCISCO -- Clayton Kershaw playfully took ground balls at shortstop off the bat of third-base coach Tim Wallach during batting practice Wednesday afternoon at AT&T Park.

It was a bit awkward since he's a left-handed thrower, of course, but Kershaw scooped several balls up the middle and shoveled to second using his glove. He went into the hole, spun and made a nice, firm throw on the money to Dee Gordon.

It gave the impression that, should every other player on the Los Angeles Dodgers' roster capable of playing shortstop go down, he could probably do it.

Why not? There's very little Kershaw hasn't accomplished for the Dodgers in keeping other teams from scoring this season. He leads the major leagues in ERA (1.88), WHIP (.92) and ERA+. He leads the National League with 224 strikeouts, fewer than only Yu Darvish and Max Scherzer in the major leagues.

He's a 25-year-old Cy Young winner who, by virtually all measures, is having his finest season. After he polishes off his regular season with Friday night's start at Dodger Stadium against the Colorado Rockies, he figures to become only the third pitcher since 2000 to finish a season with a sub-2.00 ERA, joining Roger Clemens and Pedro Martinez.

He will be only the second Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher to do it. The other, of course, was the man he's so often compared to, Sandy Koufax, who did it four times.

Yet, at 15-9, Kershaw is tied for 10th in the majors in wins going into Thursday's games. He is tied for 22nd in winning percentage.

In recent seasons, Cy Young voters have become astute enough to look beyond wins in selecting the league's best pitcher, so Kershaw stands little chance of missing out on his second Cy Young Award in three seasons. The San Francisco Giants' Tim Lincecum won the award in 2009 going 15-7. Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners won it in 2010 at 13-12.

But does that go far enough?

There has been a movement among some statistically-minded fans, led by MLB Network anchor Brian Kenny, to get rid of the win as an official statistic. Many of those people also believe Kershaw should be the league MVP. On Twitter, the campaign trends under #killthewin. Kershaw could be the poster child for the movement, but neither he nor fellow Cy Young winner Zack Greinke, the Dodgers’ 1-A, is in favor of such a drastic move.

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SAN FRANCISCO -- Every afternoon, Dodgers left-hander Paco Rodriguez spends part of it lounging on clubhouse furniture with what looks like a massive ice pack wrapped around his left arm. The device is connected to a small computer.

According to the manufacturer, it provides "dynamic compression to limbs compromised by poor circulation." Other Dodgers players have used the the same device to help increase blood flow in various parts of their body.

Rodriguez, one of the key Dodgers relievers, hasn't pitched since the day before the Dodgers clinched the NL West, a span of eight days without entering a game. But he says he feels perfectly sound.

"It's just a matter of getting an opportunity," Rodriguez said.

The Dodgers, mindful of his heavy workload and the fact he is finishing his second full season in professional baseball, have tried to limit his use. He was told he was off limits for the Dodgers' Sept. 8 and 9 games. Since then, his role simply hasn't come up much.

Rodriguez has warmed up in the bullpen without getting into a game.

"We really do feel like we need to get him into a game," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. "But we don't want to just put him in a game. We want to make sure it's the right situation."

* Mattingly said it's unlikely Andre Ethier, who has an injured left ankle, will play in a game before the end of the regular season Sunday, but that the team will try to set up a simulated game to get him at-bats and that it's possible Ethier could still make the first-round playoff roster.

Here are lineups for Thursday's game:

Dodgers

1. Yasiel Puig RF
2. Carl Crawford LF
3. Hanley Ramirez SS
4. Adrian Gonzalez 1B
5. Matt Kemp CF
6. Juan Uribe 3B
7. Mark Ellis 2B
8. Tim Federowicz C
9. Edinson Volquez RHP

Giants

1. Angel Pagan CF
2. Gregor Blanco LF
3. Brandon Belt 1B
4. Buster Posey C
5. Hunter Pence RF
6. Tony Abreu 2B
7. Brandon Crawford SS
8. Nick Noonan 3B
9. Tim Lincecum RHP

SAN FRANCISCO -- For a while, people were asking whether Ricky Nolasco should be the No. 3 or No. 4 starter in the playoffs. Now, a better question is whether he should be given the ball for any postseason starts.

That's how badly things have been going for Nolasco as the season winds down. For a month-and-a-half after the Dodgers acquired him from the Miami Marlins, he looked like the acquisition of the year.

After Wednesday's 6-4 loss to the San Francisco Giants, Nolasco (13-11) is 1-2 with a 12.75 ERA in his last three starts and he has given up 24 hits while pitching only 12 innings combined.

Wednesday was Nolasco's last start of the regular season. Dodgers manager Don Mattingly indicated the pitcher's stalled momentum won't impact how he feels about him as he sketches out his playoff rotation.

"Your guys are your guys," Mattingly said. "We're not all the sudden going to go do something different. Our guys are our guys. It's like saying a guy is struggling the last week, are you going to quit playing him?"

In his first 12 games with the Dodgers, Nolasco was 8-1 with a 2.07 ERA and he had held opponents to a .213 batting average.

On Wednesday, Nolasco put the Dodgers in a 3-0 hole in the second inning after Tony Abreu cranked a three-run triple to deep right field off the glove of Yasiel Puig, who lunged near the wall. Nolasco's best hope of holding onto the No. 4 spot is the Dodgers' lack of options. The next pitcher on the depth chart, Edinson Volquez, has pitched better lately, with a 3.50 ERA in his last three starts, but he is 9-12 with a 5.77 ERA for the season.

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LOS ANGELES -- Mark Ellis has 12 defensive runs saved, the most in the major leagues among second basemen not named Dustin Pedroia. He is eighth in something called ultimate zone rating, or UZR.

The gap between Ellis' defense and that of any other Dodgers second baseman is yawning, according to all the advanced statistical metrics.

And all of this means what, exactly, to Ellis?

"My agent tells me about them every once in a while, but honestly, I don't know what half of them mean. Nobody does," Ellis said. "I just go out there, try to put myself in the right spot and try to catch the ball."

That last comment encapsulates Ellis as a baseball player in 19 words. He just tries to put himself in the right spot and he tries to catch the ball.

Ellis is the least-flashy, least-obtrusive, lowest-maintenance everyday player on the Dodgers and, without many people knowing it, he's among the most valuable. On a team of brilliant athletes, $20 million-per-year salaries and puffed-out chests, Ellis falls under none of those categories. He's just a good player in all the ways most people don't bother to track.

Every other Dodger who has played second base this season combines for a minus-13 defensive runs saved, a chasm of 25 runs saved between those players and Ellis. The Dodgers are 68-35 when Ellis starts and 23-31 when he does not, entering Wednesday.

It all points to a player whose value is nowhere near suggested by his .264 batting average, his six home runs or his four stolen bases. It has become increasingly possible to isolate and study a player's value in every dimension of the game, but very few of those numbers show up in a box score on a daily basis.

Ellis routinely gives up at-bats to move runners over. He hangs on at second base in perilous situations and is among the best in the game at turning double plays.

"He’s just kind of day-in, day-out a solid player," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. "You don't have to worry about Mark Ellis being ready to play or doing his work or anything at all."

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SAN FRANCISCO -- Barring some unforeseen circumstances -- or perhaps a misguided decision by the Los Angeles Dodgers to go with Ricky Nolasco -- Hyun-Jin Ryu will pitch Game 3 of the Dodgers' first-round playoff series.

If the Dodgers need that game to advance, or even if they need it to stave off elimination, it would appear they'll have the right guy on the mound. Ryu has certainly not looked overtaken by big moments.

Ryu pitched seven strong innings, giving up only four hits and a run in the Dodgers' 2-1 win over the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park on Tuesday. It was certainly not a playoff atmosphere -- the Giants have been playing out the string since August -- but it was a game the Dodgers had to have if they want to maintain hope of opening the playoffs at home. The Atlanta Braves and St. Louis Cardinals both won.

Ryu is 14-7 with a 2.97 ERA. Were it not for Miami phenom Jose Fernandez and the Dodgers' own Yasiel Puig, Ryu would have been a walkaway Rookie of the Year winner.

"I've surpassed my initial expectations," Ryu said through an interpreter. "Not that I thought it was going to be easy, but it's been much better than I thought. That's a good thing."

He had lost four of his previous five starts coming into Tuesday, but all four of those losses were quality starts. In a spotlight game in his native Korea, he pitched brilliantly in a Dodgers' win over the Cincinnati Reds and Korean superstar Shin-Soo Choo back in July. He gave up one earned run in his major league debut.

The Dodgers have gone 11-4 in his past 15 starts. Since the All-Star break, Ryu has walked nine batters in 11 starts while striking out 57. He can even hit a little, though his base running isn't exactly graceful.

"We couldn't have asked, really, for anything more," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said.

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SAN FRANCISCO -- Between now and the middle of next week, the Los Angeles Dodgers will be pondering the unkindest cut of all.

Jerry Hairston Jr. is a 12-year veteran who has won a World Series ring and competed in two postseasons. He has been part of the fabric of the Dodgers' clubhouse for the past two seasons. He's a gregarious, popular player who has, at times, helped bring along some of the team's young players.

But can the Dodgers afford to carry an aging, injury-prone utility player who, while playing sparingly, has batted .215 this season and .152 since Aug. 1?

"To be honest with you, I don't think about it," Hairston said. "The good thing about it is I don't make those decisions."

It's not as though the Dodgers don't know what their core is. They have four everyday options to play the outfield and, assuming Andre Ethier is healthy enough, they'll all be in the mix for heavy playing time in the playoffs. They have their five everyday infielders, including the catcher. They'll bring four starting pitchers with them and they haven't decided if they'll keep a fifth should they require a long man or emergency replacement.

They figure to bring seven relievers. Nick Punto and Skip Schumaker have played significant roles and look like locks. Tim Federowicz is the No. 2 catcher, so he's on.

Michael Young has batted .385 since the Dodgers acquired him from the Philadelphia Phillies on Aug. 31 and, since they got him in part because of his postseason experience, he seems like a safe bet.

But what about Dee Gordon, whose speed makes him a tempting weapon, but whose lack of polish in other areas could make him an iffy proposition? Or, Scott Van Slyke, who can provide power off the bench, but is also somewhat uni-dimensional?

Between Edinson Volquez, Carlos Marmol and Chris Capuano -- all veteran pitchers -- one, at most, figures to make the cut. What about Brandon League, who has pitched poorly all season but is signed for two more years at $7.5 million per season?

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SAN FRANCISCO -- The Dodgers had two injured veterans test injuries before Tuesday's game in San Francisco.

One, Andre Ethier, experienced pain in his injured left ankle and had to cut his workout short. The other, left-hander Chris Capuano, felt great after a 41-pitch bullpen session and could be pitching in games as early as this weekend.

If he is, Capuano, who is coming off a strained groin muscle, has an outside shot at making the Dodgers' playoff roster as a reliever. Capuano, a nine-year veteran, has never pitched in the postseason, so he's working hard to try to make it happen.

If he's not on the roster for the division series, Capuano, who lives in Arizona, said he would continue to work out at the Dodgers' Camelback Ranch facility in case he's called on for the National League Championship Series.

"You stay ready," Capuano said.

Here are lineups for Tuesday's game:

Dodgers

1. Yasiel Puig RF
2. Carl Crawford LF
3. Hanley Ramirez SS
4. Adrian Gonzalez 1B
5. Matt Kemp CF
6. Juan Uribe 3B
7. A.J. Ellis C
8. Mark Ellis 2B
9. Hyun-Jin Ryu LHP

Giants

1. Angel Pagan CF
2. Juan Perez LF
3. Brandon Belt 1B
4. Buster Posey C
5. Hunter Pence RF
6. Pablo Sandoval 3B
7. Tony Abreu 2B
8. Ehire Adrianza SS
9. Matt Cain RHP

SAN DIEGO -- Before the Los Angeles Dodgers took the field Saturday night to face the San Diego Padres, manager Don Mattingly gathered his players in the clubhouse for an impromptu meeting.

He didn't have a particularly long or motivational speech prepared. He simply outlined where the Dodgers are and what they have to do during the final games of the regular season before the playoffs start.

"They all know where we're at," Mattingly said. "It's about where we're going, not about where we've been."

Where the Dodgers are going will actually have a lot to do with how they play over the final week of the regular season. Despite clinching the NL West and their first playoff berth since 2009 on Thursday, the Dodgers still have no idea who they will play when the playoffs start and, more important, where they will be to open the postseason.

After Saturday's 4-0 win over the Padres, the Dodgers are tied in the overall NL standings with the Pittsburgh Pirates, one game ahead of the Cincinnati Reds, two games behind the St. Louis Cardinals and 2½ games back of the Atlanta Braves.

It would be natural to assume the Dodgers are still eyeing to claim the best record in the National League and home-field advantage in the playoffs, but the truth is they are more concerned about going into the playoffs healthy and rested.

"We feel like we can win anywhere," Mattingly said. "We feel like we can win on the road, but you want to be healthy. I would also like to be at home. I would much rather have home-field advantage but do I want home-field advantage and not have Hanley [Ramirez] or Adrian [Gonzalez] in the lineup? No. The priority is I'm going to try to get these guys as healthy as I can and keep them sharp."

The Dodgers have certainly been a strong road team this season. They have the best road record in the National League and the second-best road record overall. They won a franchise-record 15 consecutive road games this summer and celebrated clinching the division on the road by celebrating in the Arizona Diamondbacks' pool.

So Mattingly is more than comfortable taking his team on the road to open the postseason as long as his team is healthy.

"We're going to play, we're going to keep playing," Mattingly said. "But not at the risk of [playing someone hurt]. When medical says Hanley is a little tight, I'm not going to use him. We're going to be more safe than sorry later."

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SAN DIEGO -- The old adage in football is you take 24 hours to enjoy a big win before moving on to the next game. That's not really possible in baseball in which the daily grind of the regular season forces you back on the field for the next game within hours of the final out of the last game.

Don Mattingly, however, made sure the Los Angeles Dodgers had at least 24 hours to savor clinching the NL West before moving on to the rest of the regular season and attempting to secure home-field advantage in the playoffs.

Mattingly's lineup Saturday for the Dodgers' 4-0 win over the San Diego Padres returned to normalcy one night after he went with a lineup more reminiscent of a spring training game in Friday's 2-0 loss to the Padres.

"We want to win every day and we want to have home-field advantage, but we've been at this for close to 200 games when you count spring training," Mattingly said. "It's one of those where you felt like these guys needed to sit there and enjoy that and now we have more work to do and we're going back to work."

The Dodgers didn't waste any time getting back to work with Clayton Kershaw on the mound. The Cy Young favorite pitched seven scoreless innings, giving up only three hits and striking out 10. With one start left in the season, Kershaw owns a 1.88 ERA and will likely be the first Dodger since Sandy Koufax to end a season with a sub-2.00 ERA.

A.J. Ellis, who hit the winning home run to clinch the division in Arizona, hit a two-run homer to left in the fourth inning Saturday to get the Dodgers on the board first and score all the runs they'd really need with Kershaw starting.

Yasiel Puig put the game away with a two-run blast in the seventh inning that could have easily landed in the Gaslamp Quarter. Puig's home run was calculated at 457 feet, making it the second-longest home run in Petco Park history. The first was a 458-foot home run by Adrian Gonzalez in 2009. The two friends and teammates will no doubt be debating that one foot for a while.

Mattingly will now go into the final seven games of the regular season not only looking to gain home-field advantage but also shore up any issues the Dodgers might have heading into the playoffs.

"One of our goals coming out of spring training was to win the division and set ourselves up where we could do what we're doing," Mattingly said. "We also wanted to set our pitching up the way we want it. We've at least accomplished that much of it. It's now an opportunity for us to touch on some other things. This is a great opportunity for us."

SAN DIEGO -- Chris Withrow rejoined the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday after leaving the team to be with his wife, Jaclyn, who gave birth to their first child, Walker Reid, on Wednesday night.

Withrow missed three games, including the Dodgers' division-clinching game Thursday in Arizona, to be with his family in Odessa, Texas.

"It's such a blessing," Withrow said. "I'm glad to be back here. It's tough leaving, but it's good to come back here and see all the guys."

Walker Reid Withrow was born at 6:57 p.m. on Wednesday night. He weighed seven pounds, seven ounces and was 21 inches long.

"Mom and baby are doing great," Withrow said. "Mom's exhausted, but she's doing great. She's doing exactly what she needs to do to take care of him. He's about as content as them come when he gets fed, but he gets hungry pretty quick."

Withrow watched the division-clinching game and postgame celebration on his phone in his wife's hospital room. He is hoping he'll get to experience a couple of more postgame celebrations before the season is over.

"I was watching the celebration on my phone and it's something about having a baby with you and your wife, I felt like I was celebrating two different things at once," Withrow said. "That made it a lot better. I was in the hospital watching while the baby was resting. It was pretty cool. Hopefully that was just the first of four celebrations and I'll have plenty more to come."

Here are the lineups for tonight's game against the San Diego Padres:

Dodgers

1. Yasiel Puig RF
2. Carl Crawford LF
3. Matt Kemp CF
4. Adrian Gonzalez 1B
5. Juan Uribe 3B
6. Mark Ellis 2B
7. A.J. Ellis C
8. Nick Punto SS
9. Clayton Kershaw P

Padres

1. Chris Denorfia CF
2. Chase Headley 3B
3. Jedd Gyorko 2B
4. Jesus Guzman LF
5. Tommy Medica 1B
6. Kyle Blanks RF
7. Nick Hundley C
8. Ronny Cedeno SS
9. Burch Smith P

SAN DIEGO -- Adrian Gonzalez is a hitter's hitter, a technician with a bat.

A surprising number of major-league hitters will describe their approach in the simplest terms: "See the ball, hit the ball." If Gonzalez were to take that approach, he says, he would be "the worst hitter in the world."

Gonzalez spends more time studying video of opposing pitchers than any Los Angeles Dodgers hitter with the possible exception of Andre Ethier. He's not just looking for clues to picking up the ball out of the pitcher's hand, but trying to glean a pattern that can give him an advantage in that night's at-bats. It's more detailed than you might think.

He's looking for what a pitcher does when he's ahead in the count, what he does to try to put hitters away, what pitches he tends to leave over the plate -- the hittable kind -- and whether he tends to pitch in or away, up or down, soft or hard. The permutations are practically endless.

When he's not studying hitting, he's often talking hitting.

"He'll use terms that leave you scratching your head," Carl Crawford said.

It's a cerebral approach that wouldn't work for many hitters. It would cloud their heads with too many thoughts. It clearly works for Gonzalez, who leads the Dodgers in home runs, RBIs and runs and is third with an .804 OPS. While Yasiel Puig and Hanley Ramirez have been the straws that stir the drink, Gonzalez has been the ice that never melts.

Crawford marvels at Gonzalez's gap-to-gap approach, how he rarely gets out ahead of the ball, letting it travel deep in the strike zone before swinging.

"Signs of a professional hitter," Crawford said.

If you watch closely, you can see Gonzalez adjust to situations as they arise, altering his approach. His swing is different when there are runners in scoring position versus empty bases, with two strikes or with fewer than two strikes, with the score tied or in a blowout. That adaptability leads to consistency. He is two RBIs away from reaching 100 for the sixth time in the past seven years. The time he didn't get to 100, he finished with 99.

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SAN DIEGO -- Don't read too much into Friday night's lineup.

The fact the Los Angeles Dodgers were starting six players who spent most of the season at Triple-A, two bench guys and a pitcher who figures to be nowhere near their postseason roster is kind of par for the course after a team clinches a division title.

The Dodgers' celebration probably didn't end with that little dip in the pool that you may have heard about, but probably continued on the flight from Arizona and spilled into San Diego's Gaslamp Quarter, where the team hotel sits.

What the team does beyond Friday might be more telling. Hanley Ramirez, Andre Ethier, Matt Kemp, Yasiel Puig and Adrian Gonzalez -- each of whom has had some form of injury in the past two weeks -- will get plenty of rest between now and the end of the season Sept. 29.

Manager Don Mattingly spent a large part of his afternoon meeting with the Dodgers' medical staff and with the players themselves, to set up their programs for the last nine games. Mattingly said he would lean more toward resting players than fighting hard for home-field advantage in the playoffs.

"We feel like we can win anywhere," Mattingly said. "We feel like we can win on the road, but you want to be healthy."

There was some meaningful on-field activity. Ethier took batting practice on the field for the first time since injuring his ankle two weeks ago and could be playing in games by the final three-game homestand against the Colorado Rockies next weekend.

Here are the lineups:

Dodgers

1. Dee Gordon SS
2. Jerry Hairston Jr. 3B
3. Skip Schumaker 2B
4. Scott Van Slyke LF
5. Tim Federowicz C
6. Nick Buss CF
7. Alex Castellanos RF
8. Drew Butera 1B
9. Edinson Volquez RHP

Padres

1. Will Venable CF
2. Chris Denorfia RF
3. Jedd Gyorko 2B
4. Chase Headley 3B
5. Tommy Medica 1B
6. Kyle Blanks LF
7. Ronny Cedeno SS
8. Nick Hundley C
9. Robbie Erlin