League has a 1.53 ERA in 17.2 innings since the end of May, lowering his overall ERA to 1.97 in 45.2 innings.

League's ratios are less impressive (5.1 K/9, 3.4 BB/9), so expecting a sub-2.00 ERA the rest of the way could be wishful thinking. Still, with the struggles of Chris Perez and Brian Wilson, League has been invaluable for the Dodgers.

Brandon League allowed two runs in an inning of work against the Athletics on Monday.

League followed Kershaw in the third and allowed two of his inherited runners to score along with two of his own on two hits and two walks. League had been bothered by a lat strain in his right shoulder in February. After a disastrous 2013 season, League is trying to remain relevant in the Dodgers' bullpen.

Brandon League (lat) felt no discomfort while throwing to hitters for the first time Wednesday.

League has been sidelined due to a mild lat strain that's kept him out of game action to this point. On Wednesday, League threw to teammates Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier and reportedly came out of the session alright. If everything goes well, League will likely throw a bullpen session Friday or Saturday before getting into an exhibition game sometime next week.

Brandon League (lat) will throw off a mound Wednesday.

League backed off his throwing program due to a mild lat strain, but it was considered precautionary. The 30-year-old is coming off a 5.30 ERA and 28/15 K/BB ratio over 54 1/3 innings last season and is still owed $15 million through 2015.

Brandon League is nursing a mild lat strain but hopes to resume throwing from a mound on Wednesday.

League insisted that the rest is just "precautionary" and he expects to be fine. "We don't think it's anything serious," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. "But we want to be extra cautious, especially with the schedule we've got, we don't want anybody pushing it and winding up with something worse. Just like Zach (Lee), Brandon is feeling better and he's moving closer to getting back on the mound."

Brandon League is not on the Dodgers' NLDS roster.

League got a three-year, $22.5 million contract last offseason and was the Dodgers' closer on Opening Day, but he was lapped on the bullpen depth chart after posting a 5.30 ERA in 54 1/3 innings this season. Carlos Marmol, Edinson Volquez and Jerry Hairston Jr. are also absent from the Dodgers' roster for the NLDS. Dee Gordon, Chris Withrow, Chris Capuano and Scott Van Slyke made the cut.

Brandon League pitched a scoreless ninth inning in the Dodgers' 5-0 win over the Phillies on Saturday.

It wasn't a save situation, but it was still a positive outing for the Dodgers' $22.5 million man. He had a very good month of July and has thrown scoreless outings in five of his six appearances in August, but the recent signing of Brian Wilson likely means he'll continue to pitch in a middle relief role.

Brandon League has been placed on waivers.

It's a pretty common thing this time of year, and it's highly doubtful League gets moved. He signed a three-year, $22.5 million contract last October.

Brandon League pitched a scoreless 11th inning to collect his 14th save of the season Saturday in the Dodgers' 5-3 win over the Pirates.

League allowed two hits and was the victim of some poor defense but he got the job done after Kenley Jansen blew a save in the bottom of the ninth. League still has an ugly 5.54 season ERA but will be ready to reclaim ninth-inning duties if Jansen has another rough outing.

After entering with the bases loaded, none out and the Dodgers down 5-4 in the 12th, Brandon League gave up two hits and a walk to the Diamondbacks on Wednesday.

League got three outs in the process, and since all the baserunners to score were inherited from Ronald Belisario, he wasn't actually charged with any earned runs in the game. Still, it wasn't an outing that's going to earn back much in the way of faith, even if both hits against him came on grounders.

Brandon League blew his fourth save of the season Monday night against Arizona by surrendering four runs in less than an inning.

Boos rained down from the Chavez Ravine faithful onto both League and skipper Don Mattingly. One wonders how much longer Donnie Baseball will continue to trot League and his 6.00 ERA into save situations when he has one of the league's premier young relievers, Kenley Jansen, at his disposal. Owners looking to stay ahead of the curve should pick up Jansen immediately and hope Mattingly comes to his senses and temporarily banishes League to middle relief. Jansen (2.53 ERA) tossed a perfect eighth inning Monday, striking out a batter, to set the table for League's implosion.

Thanks to a game-ending wild pitch, Brandon League was credited with the victory as the Dodgers beat the Braves 2-1 in 10 innings Friday.

Anthony Varvaro's wild pitch scored pinch-runner Skip Schumaker to end the game in the bottom of the 10th. League previously pitched a scoreless top of the 10th. He's allowed runs in just one of his last seven appearances.

Brandon League nailed down his 12th save of the season with a scoreless ninth inning in Monday's win over the Padres.

It wasn't exactly smooth. League got to a three-ball count on Jedd Gyorko before getting a groundout and then walked Chris Denorfia. Kyle Blanks then hit a laser to right field, but, luckily for League, Yasiel Puig caught it on the warning track and then doubled up Denorfia at first. League is still clearly the preferred ninth inning choice for the Dodgers, but it feels like only a matter of time before he yields to Kenley Jansen.

Brandon League blew his third save of the season Friday night against the Rockies.

After entering the bottom of the ninth inning with a 5-3 lead, League struck out Nolan Arenado and gave up a single to Nolan Arenado. However, he lost an 11-pitch battle against Todd Helton by giving up a game-tying two-run homer. League avoided any more damage and was actually credited with the victory after the Dodgers scored two runs in the top of the 10th. More blowups are likely in League's future given his low strikeout rate, so Dodgers manager Don Mattingly could make the switch to Kenley Jansen at any time.

When asked prior to Tuesday's game who his closer is, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly replied, "I don't know. We'll see."

Kenley Jansen seemed to be close to overtaking Brandon League for the job, but he then allowed two runs in back-to-back games over the weekend. Mattingly indicated that he'd like to use League in the role, saying he'd "really like to see the bullpen get its confidence back and some semblance of order and get the guys in the roles we designed." Jansen has out-pitched League all season until the last few days and is probably the favorite for the job over the long run. The situation is a headache for fantasy owners.

Brandon League got the call in the ninth on Wednesday in a 3-1 game against the Nationals and pitched a scoreless inning for his ninth save.

After Kenley Jansen got four outs to set him up, League allowed a leadoff single in the ninth and then got three straight groundouts to end the game. He's now 9-for-10 in save opportunities this season. Manager Don Mattingly still might go to Jansen when the starting pitcher goes eight, though.

Even though the Dodgers were up 2-0 after eight, Brandon League was bypassed in Tuesday's game, never even warming up in the bullpen.

The Dodgers had Kenley Jansen and Paco Rodriguez up in the ninth and went to Jansen after Adam LaRoche's two-out single knocked Clayton Kershaw from the game. Of course, this comes a day after Don Mattingly said League remains his closer. And League, for all of his recent troubles, is still 8-for-9 saving games this year. It's hard to blame Mattingly for having more faith in Jansen at the moment, but if that was the case, he shouldn't have opened his gob and said it was still League's job. Perhaps it still is, but Mattingly may wait for an easier chance to use him again.

Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said Brandon League is still the team's closer "for now."

League has blown just one save in nine tries, but he's been scored upon in six of his last seven outings, pushing his ERA up to an ugly 6.28. Kenley Jansen, meanwhile, has put up a 2.29 ERA and boasts a 27/5 K/BB ratio over 19 2/3 innings. It's probably only a matter of time before he usurps the ninth inning role from League.

Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said Wednesday that he's considering mixing up the closer role, but don't want to mess up the bullpen, "not that we're not a mess already a little bit."

Brandon League has blown just one save in nine chances but has a 5.40 ERA and 1.28 WHIP, while Kenley Jansen boasts a 2.12 ERA and 1.00 WHIP. Jansen also has a 21/5 K/BB ratio compared to a 7/4 ratio for League. While it doesn't sound like the skipper is ready to make a change yet, one could come before long.

After entering a tie game, Brandon League gave up a two-run homer to Paul Goldschmidt to take a loss Tuesday against the Diamondbacks.

League has pitched twice in nine days, both times entering tie games and both times giving up homers and taking losses. Maybe that will get him pulled from the closer's role with the Dodgers currently reeling, though there's little reason to think that'd be a winning strategy for the team. After all, League has converted eight of his nine save chances this year. The Dodgers are likely better off letting him pitch with leads in the ninth -- should they ever have one again -- then having him work in tie games like this, something he'd have to do more of as a setup man. Still, if they do make a panic switch, it will likely be to Kenley Jansen.