LOS ANGELES (AP) — Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw is back, making for quite a birthday for manager Dave Roberts.Kershaw is slated to start against Philadelphia on Thursday night after he was activated from the 10-day disabled list. The three-time NL Cy Young Award winner was sidelined with left biceps tendinitis."That's the perfect gift I could ask for," said Roberts, who turned 46 on Thursday.The Dodgers' rotation has been hit hard by injuries. Kenta Maeda was placed on the DL on Wednesday with a mild left hip strain. Rich Hill (blister) and Hyun-Jin Ryu (left groin strain) remain unavailable.The 30-year-old Kershaw went 1-4 with a 2.86 ERA in his first seven starts. He has hasn't appeared in a major league game since May 1.His year also started with an uncharacteristically high 10 walks over 44 innings, in marked contrast to the 11 walks he had in 149 innings for the entire 2016 regular season.It is the third consecutive year Kershaw has been on the disabled list, missing time each of the past two seasons with a back injury.The Dodgers optioned reliever Pat Venditte to Triple-A Oklahoma City to make room on the roster.___More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Dodgers placed right-hander Kenta Maeda and infielder Chase Utley on the 10-day disabled list on Wednesday.Maeda was diagnosed with a mild left hip strain while Utley has a sprained left thumb. Right-hander Carlos Santana and ambidextrous pitcher Pat Venditte were recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City on Wednesday.With Maeda headed to the disabled list, that makes four of the Dodgers' five starters from their opening-day roster are sidelined with an injury. Also on the DL are Clayton Kershaw (left biceps strain), Rich Hill (left middle finger blister) and Hyun-Jin Ryu (left groin strain). Kershaw is expected to return from the DL on Thursday and start against the Philadelphia Phillies.Utley has just one start since May 22 and is in an 0-for-14 slump. Since getting two hits against Cincinnati on May 10, Utley is 2 for 29 over a 12-game stretch. He is batting just .137 over 51 at-bats in May.Maeda was removed from his start Tuesday against the Phillies in... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Switch-pitcher Pat Venditte is among 22 non-roster players invited to spring training with the Los Angeles Dodgers.The 32-year-old Venditte agreed to a minor league deal in November after he spent the 2017 season pitching for Triple-A Lehigh Valley in the Phillies' organization. He had a 3.36 ERA in 69 2/3 innings of relief.Venditte pitched in parts of two seasons in the major leagues with Oakland in 2015 and Toronto and Seattle in 2016. He has a 4.97 ERA in 41 career relief appearances in the big leagues.Other pitchers invited to camp are: left-handers Manny Banuelos and Brian Moran, and right-handers Joe Broussard, Daniel Corcino, C.C. Lee, Mark Lowe, Zach Neal and Yasiel Sierra.Invited catchers are Keibert Ruiz, Will Smith and Shawn Zarraga.Infielders who were invited are Matt Beaty, Drew Jackson, Max Muncy, Jake Peter, Edwin Rios and Donovan Solano.Outfielders are Yusniel Diaz, DJ Peters, Henry Ramos and Travis Taijeron.Pitchers and catchers report to Glendale, Arizona, on Feb. 12.___More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball

LHP/RHP Pat Venditte served up home runs with both arms for the second consecutive appearance on Saturday night. Venditte, a switch-pitcher who allowed homers to Texas LHP Rougned Odor and RHP Ryan Rua last Wednesday, got victimized by Albert Pujols with a right-handed pitch and Kole Calhoun with a left-handed pitch Saturday.

LHP/RHP Pat Venditte, the first known full-time ambidextrous pitcher in major league history, gave up a run on one hit and a walk over three innings of relief -- matching the longest relief outing of his career -- in Seattle's 6-3 loss to Texas on Monday. He also struck out five hitters in his ninth appearance this season.

LHP Pat Venditte was recalled from Triple-A Tacoma before Saturday's game against the White Sox. The 31-year-old is able to pitch both as a left-hander and a right-hander, although the Mariners expect to use him primarily as a southpaw. Seattle acquired him Aug. 6 from the Toronto Blue Jays, where he had a 5.19 ERA (five earned runs in 8 2/3 innings) with four walks and seven strikeouts in eight appearances.

The Seattle Mariners recalled ambidextrous pitcher Pat Venditte from Triple-A Tacoma. Venditte, 31, was acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays on Aug. 6 and reported to Tacoma where he was 1-0 with a 1.08 ERA over 8 1/3 innings with 11 strikeouts in five relief appearances. The switch-pitching reliever posted a 5.19 ERA over 8 2/3 innings in eight appearances with Toronto this season.

P Pat Venditte was acquired from the Toronto organization and assigned to Triple-A Tacoma. The "switch-pitcher" throws with both hands but has already had three organizations give up on him. The reliever-strapped Mariners just need pitch-ready arms -- and Venditte has two of them.

P Pat Venditte, an ambidextrous hurler, was acquired from Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for a player to be named later. Venditte, 31, became the first full-time ambidextrous pitcher in the majors when he made his debut for the Oakland Athletics on June 5, 2015. He will report to Seattle's Triple-A affililate at Tacoma. Venditte has appeared in 34 games in the majors -- eight with Toronto this season -- and posted a 2-2 record and 4.58 ERA.

LHP/RHP Pat Venditte was assigned on option to Buffalo Monday after LHP Scott Diamond had his contract selected from the Triple-A Club. Venditte is 0-0 with a 5.19 earned-run average in eight relief appearances over three stints at Toronto.

LHP/RHP Pat Venditte was recalled from Triple-A Buffalo. INF Matt Dominguez was designated for assignment to make room on the 25-man roster. The move was made to give the Blue Jays an additional arm out of the bullpen. He has appeared in seven games for the Blue Jays and has allowed three earned runs over 6 2/3 innings with a 4.05 ERA.

LHP/RHP Pat Venditte was optioned to Triple-A Buffalo on Thursday.

LHP/RHP Pat Venditte saw his second stint with the Blue Jays end Wednesday when he was optioned to Triple-A Buffalo. In two stints with Toronto, he has a 4.05 ERA in seven appearances.

LHP/RHP Pat Venditte was recalled from Triple-A Buffalo on Tuesday, and he pitched 2 1/3 innings in relief of RHP Marcus Stroman in the Blue Jays' 12-2 loss to the Rays. He allowed three unearned runs and three hits with one strikeout. With the promotion of Venditte, RHP Dustin Antolin was returned on option to the Bisons. Venditte is 0-0 with a 4.50 ERA in six appearances with the Blue Jays.

LHP/RHP Pat Venditte was recalled from Triple-A Buffalo on Monday.

LHP/RHP Pat Venditte was optioned to Triple-A Buffalo when RHP Ryan Tepera was recalled Wednesday. Venditte was 0-0 with a 7.36 ERA in five games with Toronto. He was recalled from Buffalo on April 13.

LHP/RHP Pat Venditte was optioned to Triple-A Buffalo on Wednesday. He has a 7.36 ERA in 3 2/3 innings this season for the Blue Jays.

L/RHP Pat Venditte was recalled from Triple-A Buffalo on Wednesday and RHP Arnold Leon was designated for assignment to make room for him. Venditte, 30, pitched two perfect innings at Buffalo with five strikeouts and kept it going with a 1-2-3 ninth for Toronto in the Blue Jays' win over the New York Yankees. He pitched 8 1/3 runless innings in the Grapefruit League, allowing three hits and two walks while striking out three. Although he is ambidextrous, one of the main reasons he was recalled was because with LHP Franklin Morales (shoulder fatigue) on the disabled list, the Blue Jays are down to one left-hander in the bullpen, LHP Brett Cecil, who has been struggling although he had a 1-2-3 seventh inning on Wednesday. Venditte appeared in 26 major-league games before this season, all with the Oakland Athletics last season, when he had an earned-run average of 4.40.

Venditte (1-2) earned his first career win on Sunday, allowing just one hit in two innings against the Diamondbacks.

Venditte took over in the 10th inning, after a ninth inning rally by the Diamondbacks tied the game. He struck out Jake Lamb to begin the inning and then effectively silenced the rest of the Arizona order in his two innings, benefiting from a three-run explosion from the A's in the top of the 11th to pick up the win.

Venditte will be recalled by the Athletics for Saturday's game against the Orioles, Joe Stiglich of CSN Bay Area reports.

Venditte hit Triple-A after a stint on the DL rehabbing his right shoulder, and has since waited for a spot to open up in the big leagues. That opportunity has now come in the form of Friday night's 13-inning game, which has left the A's needing bullpen help.