Dodgers' Pedro Baez placed on 15-day DL with pectoral strain

LOS ANGELES -- Dodgers reliever Pedro Baez, one of the team's hardest-throwing and effective relievers, left Wednesday night's 5-4 loss to the Miami Marlins with an injury to his right pectoral muscle and on Thursday was placed on the 15-day disabled list.

An MRI taken Thursday revealed a pectoral strain.

Baez struck out the first three batters he faced before yielding a double to Dee Gordon.

After that hit, Dodgers catcher Yasmani Grandal summoned bench coach Tim Wallach -- manager Don Mattingly had been ejected for arguing with an umpire earlier in the game -- and trainer Stan Conte.

Baez said he felt tightness in the muscle three pitches before he came out of the game. He said he is hopeful he will be ready to return after the minimum 15 days.

Baez, 27, is 1-0 with a 1.76 ERA and 23 strikeouts along with just three walks.

In one sense, the timing of Baez's injury is close to ideal. Kenley Jansen, the Dodgers' closer, pitched his final rehab outing at Class A Rancho Cucamonga on Wednesday night and walked into Mattingly's office Thursday to tell him he's ready to go after missing the first five weeks after undergoing foot surgery.

The Dodgers will activate Jansen either Friday or Saturday depending how much pitching is required in Thursday night's game. The team recalled lefty Daniel Coulombe from Triple-A Oklahoma City, but his stay figures to be a short one, just until Jansen comes back.

"I feel bad for Pedro. He was pitching well," Jansen said. "Our whole bullpen has been good. I'm looking forward to coming in and being part of it. I told them I'm ready to go either way, whenever they want me to go."