Dodgers’ Matt Kemp, Juan Rivera close to returning

Matt Kemp and Juan Rivera sprinted and stretched on the field at Dodger Stadium on Friday. But this was before their team faced Houston, a game both missed because of injuries.

However, it’s possible that the outfielders, who have each been suffering from left hamstring strains, could return to the Dodgers on Tuesday against Milwaukee.

“They both ran really well today,” Dodgers trainer Sue Falsone said.

As part of their rehab assignment, Kemp and Rivera are expected to play for triple-A Albuquerque on Sunday and Monday, Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly said, adding that Rivera’s rehab assignment may be extended a day or two if needed.

Kemp has been sidelined since May 14.

Rivera ruptured a hamstring tendon May 8 sliding into third base, but Mattingly said he has made progress, calling his situation “a best-case scenario.”

Sellers on DL

Infielder Justin Sellers sacrificed his body, as the cliche goes, to make a diving-into-the-stands foul catch in the ninth inning of the Dodgers’ 3-1 win May 14 vs. Arizona.

But that cliche became somewhat literal Friday when Sellers went on the 15-day disabled list with a bulging disc in his lower back, an area where he said he had a preexisting condition dating to high school.

Infielder Jerry Hairston Jr. was recalled from the 15-day disabled list, where he had been since May 6 with a strained hamstring, and he batted fifth and started at third base.

“You could really say that the aftershock of that play — going in and getting beat up in the stands — I guess put more of a toll on my body than I expected,” Sellers said, noting back pain and numbness in his right leg.

Falsone said Sellers had a stress fracture in his back in high school, which created some weakness in that area and was exacerbated because of his acrobatic catch. Falsone said she thinks Sellers should be recovered in about 15 days.

An MRI Thursday revealed the injury to Sellers, who has batted .205 in 19 games.

Short hops

Second baseman Mark Ellis has a sprained left medial collateral ligament and a bone contusion on the outside of his left knee, Falsone said. Those injuries are in addition to the emergency left leg surgery Ellis, who was released from the hospital Thursday, underwent after being injured last Friday against St. Louis when Tyler Greene slid into him at second base. Falsone said she thinks it will take eight weeks for Ellis to resume baseball activities.... Falsone said right-handed pitcher Matt Guerrier (right elbow tendinitis) has been shut down and that she doesn’t expect him back for a few weeks.… Juan Uribe (sore wrist) was taking ground balls during the Dodgers recent three games in Arizona and is scheduled to begin light hitting on Friday.

baxter.holmes@latimes.com

twitter.com/BaxterHolmes