Dodgers place Mark Ellis on DL, activate Chris Capuano

It took the Dodgers about a week longer than it should have, but as expected Mark Ellis was placed on the 15-day disabled list on Monday with a strained right quad. The move clears a spot for Chris Capuano to be activated from the DL to start the series opener Monday night against the Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium.

Ellis hurt his right quad while running to first base on Apr. 26, but the Dodgers waited to place him on the DL in hopes he would improve. It never happened, and the result was a week's worth of a short roster, which was especially painful with three one-run losses in San Francisco over the weekend.

Though it seems like Ellis is eligible to be activated before he even goes on the DL, that is not the case. The earliest Ellis could be activated is Sunday, May 12.

Capuano returns from a strained left calf that sidelined him for 20 days. He made one rehab start, last Wednesday against Memphis with Triple-A Albuquerque, and allowed two runs in 5⅓ innings.

Adrian Gonzalez was scratched from the starting lineup for three consecutive days in San Francisco, and was limited over the weekend to one pinch-hit appearance on Sunday night, a two-run single in the eighth inning. He is back in the lineup again on Monday, but we'll see if that holds up come game time.

Over at SB Nation, the Dodgers-Diamondbacks series was designated as the World Series of the week. I contributed a bit to the feature, and suggested maybe the Dodgers should recognize Arizona as a rival:

So maybe the Dodgers can channel the angst of their 13-17 start and spread a little more sports hatred around, enough to counter Arizona. After all, the offensive hero of the last World Series-winning Dodgers team (Kirk Gibson) as well as the leadoff man and catalyst (Steve Sax) now sleep with the enemy and sit in the Diamondbacks dugout. Time to beat the traitors.

The Dodgers have dropped 12 of their last 15 games to the Diamondbacks.

Game info

Time: 7:10 p.m.

TV: Prime Ticket

MLB Gameday