Dodgers activate two key players immediately before big Padres series

With one week left in the MLB regular season, the Los Angeles Dodgers are getting two key players back for a three-game home series against the San Diego Padres .

Pitcher Roki Sasaki and center fielder Andy Pages , who have been on the injured list since August, were activated from the injured list on Monday, an off-day for the Dodgers and Padres. The two National League West rivals can each clinch something important at Dodger Stadium — San Diego , a berth in the postseason, Los Angeles , a first-round bye.

Sasaki had a 3.05 ERA in seven starts post-All-Star-break when he developed a blister on his throwing hand in August. Pages played in his first All-Star Game in July, then fractured a bone in his right hand on Aug. 21, when he was hit by a 100.2 mph fastball from Pittsburgh Pirates starter Bubba Chandler .

The Dodgers managed to clinch the National League West without the two players, but both figure to play key roles in October for the defending World Series champions.

The Dodgers lost hard-throwing reliever Edgardo Henriquez to a back injury earlier this month . For all his second-half success as a starter, the Dodgers need Sasaki more in their bullpen as a right-handed compliment to left-handers Tanner Scott and Alex Vesia .

Pages, meanwhile, was excelling at the plate and in the field prior to his injury, which required surgery. He'll have six games to tune up for the postseason — and a chance at redemption for last October.

The Dodgers won the World Series even though Pages had only four hits in 16 postseason games, collecting an .078 batting average across four playoff rounds.

Without Pages, the Dodgers moved veteran utilityman Tommy Edman to center field. Through week's end, he was slashing .245/.328/.376 (94 OPS+) in 79 games this season.

The Dodgers are also expecting Shohei Ohtani to return during the Padres series, but he isn't eligible to be activated from the 15-day injured list before Wednesday.

In correpsonding 26-man roster moves, pitcher Emmet Sheehan and catcher Eliezer Alfonzo were optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City.