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Just about everything on Sunday from Washington D.C. was filled with good news for the Dodgers, until the ninth inning. Their 9-2 win over the Nationals was marred by an ankle injury to Matt Kemp, who was just activated from the disabled list on Sunday.
Kemp was on third base with two outs in the ninth inning when Carl Crawford hit a bases loaded ground ball to first base. Kemp, likely thinking the inning would end with that ground out, was not running hard toward home. But Crawford easily beat the play to first base, and Adam LaRoche threw home to get Kemp on a force out. Kemp, trying to beat the throw, lunged at the last moment toward home and turned his left ankle in an awkward touch of the plate.
Kemp was removed from the game in the bottom of the ninth.
Manager Don Mattingly said after the game that Kemp received treatment on his ankle right away. Mattingly said Kemp's ankle has a little swelling and that it looked like a sprain, but he didn't anticipate a stint on the disabled list.
The team announced there are no x-rays needed "at this time" for Kemp, though it's unknown whether or not that has to do with the amount of swelling still in the ankle.
David Vassegh of KLAC 570 AM noted, "Just watching Kemp walk around clubhouse, he can put hardly any pressure on his ankle."
This angle looked even worse:
Okay, so this doesn't look so minor (https://t.co/Shvqc5EqId): pic.twitter.com/tQwPxYdfBL
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) July 21, 2013
Another video, per Danny on Vine:
The timing is unfortunate for Kemp, who had a stellar game in his first game back from his most recent stint on the disabled list. Kemp had three hits, including a home run and a double, plus a walk. He has homered in three of his last four games, but that was interrupted by a disabled list stint.
The Dodgers head to Toronto for three games starting Monday so they will have the designated hitter to use for Kemp if needed, but it's unlikely that Kemp would be available to hit at all anyway if he couldn't run.
So now we wait and see what Monday brings, to see if Kemp's ankle improves or if he faces a fifth disabled list trip in the last two seasons, which have caused him to miss 86 of the Dodgers' last 225 games.