SAN DIEGO -- If the Dodgers are going to save their season, they'll need it to do it without Freddie Freeman. The superstar first baseman, who has been battling a badly sprained right ankle, was scratched from L.A.'s lineup in Wednesday's win-or-go-home Game 4 of the National League Division Series against the Padres.

The Dodgers put out a lineup Wednesday afternoon with Freeman in his customary No. 3 spot and manning first base, but he was replaced at first by Max Muncy about two hours before first pitch, with Kiké Hernández moving from center field to replace Muncy at third and Chris Taylor taking over in center.

Before each game of the NLDS, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has spoken tentatively about Freeman's status, saying that his availability would hinge on how he comes out of his pregame work and his pain-management ability. Asked Wednesday, before the lineup change, how Freeman's ankle was feeling, Roberts replied, "Just OK."

"OK enough to give it a shot until it's not," the L.A. skipper elaborated. "As of right now, he's in there, and he's doing everything he can to be in there. … Unless something changes as he's getting ready, I might have to pivot. But right now, he's in there."

Freeman started the first three games of the NLDS, but he exited Game 2 on Sunday night with right ankle soreness and was removed for a pinch-runner in Game 3 on Tuesday night after singling in the eighth inning with the Dodgers down a run.

After spraining his ankle on Sept. 26 against the Padres, Freeman was told the injury would typically require a four- to six-week IL stint. He returned to game action a little more than a week later and has been active as long as the Dodgers deemed him to be effective in spite of playing through pain.