Matt Kemp placed on DL, Dodgers activate Ted Lilly

Despite initial reports to the contrary, the Dodgers on Wednesday finally decided to place center fielder Matt Kemp on the 15-day disabled list with a left ankle sprain. Ted Lilly was activated from the disabled list, giving the Dodgers at least temporarily 13 pitchers on the 25-man active roster.

Kemp just returned from the DL on Sunday after missing 11 games with an injury to his AC joint in his left shoulder. He went 3-for-4 with a home run, a double and a walk against the Nationals, but injured his ankle at home plate on a meaningless play with a 9-2 lead in the ninth inning.

Manager Don Mattingly on Sunday said he didn't expect Kemp to be placed on the disabled list, as he did in each of Kemp's previous two DL stints this season. This marks the fifth time Kemp has been placed on the disabled list since the start of the 2012 season.

The move was retroactive to Monday, meaning the earliest day Kemp can be activated is August 6.

Lilly was placed on the disabled list on June 9 with a neck strain and hadn't pitched since June 4. He made a pair of minor league rehab starts with Class-A Rancho Cucamonga on June 30 and July 6, and allowed 10 runs in 8⅓ innings, though he did strikeout 11 with three walks.

Manager Don Mattingly talked last week about Lilly returning to the Dodgers as a relief pitcher rather than starter. On Friday in Washington D.C. Lilly pitched a simulated inning against Kemp, who at the time was also on the disabled list, at Nationals Park.

Lilly is 0-2 with a 5.09 ERA in five starts with the Dodgers in 2013, in the final season of a three-year, $33 million contract.