Los Angeles Dodgers place Clayton Kershaw on injured list; MRI 'best-case scenario'

LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday placed left-hander Clayton Kershaw on the 15-day injured list, a day after he left his start at San Francisco with lower back pain.

This marks the 34-year-old Kershaw's second trip to the injured list this season. He was previously sidelined with inflammation in a pelvic joint.

Kershaw had an X-ray and an MRI on Friday, and nothing new was revealed in the MRI. Manager Dave Roberts said Kershaw was sore Friday, and that prompted the IL move.

"There wasn't any new findings, so that's a positive,'' Roberts said. "This was the best-case scenario coming from the MRI.''

Kershaw's previous back injury was on the right side, and this one is more on the left side, according to Roberts.

The three-time NL Cy Young Award winner was warming up before the fifth inning of a 5-3 victory over San Francisco on Thursday when he winced and pointed to the Dodgers' dugout. He later walked off the field with a trainer.

Kershaw, a nine-time All-Star, is 7-3 with a 2.64 ERA and 88 strikeouts in 85 innings.

Also Friday, the Dodgers activated utilityman Chris Taylor, who missed a month with a fractured left foot. He's batting .238 with six homers and 27 RBIs in 74 games.

The Dodgers also recalled right-hander Reyes Moronta and optioned outfielder James Outman.

Moronta is 0-0 with a 4.67 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 17 innings. Outman went 6-for-13 with one homer and three RBIs in four games with the Dodgers.

The Dodgers will need to fill Kershaw's spot in the rotation in the near future. Dustin May, who had Tommy John surgery last year, is trending toward a return soon. May has another rehab start Tuesday in Triple-A Oklahoma City.

"The world will look different then," Roberts said. "Then we'll make a decision on whether he should make another one, which is most likely, so now you're looking at somebody in our system to make that [next start]. [Ryan] Pepiot certainly makes sense.''