AL CENTRAL NEWS AND NOTES

CHICAGO WHITE SOX

Nicky Delmonico is trying to salvage something out of a lost season.

The outfielder was hitting just .229 with five home runs through 60 games. He was out from May 19 to July 19 because of a broken right hand.

As a rookie last season, Delmonico batted .262 with nine homers in just 43 games. Delmonico showed flashes of his rookie form Aug. 17 when he had a career-high five RBI, including a three-run homer, in the White Sox’s 9-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals.

The left-handed hitter has been platooning in left field with Leury Garcia.

❚ Right fielder Avisail Garcia is expected to undergo surgery on his right knee at the end of the season. Garcia, who spent two stints on the DL earlier in the season because of a strained right hamstring, was batting .235 with 14 homers through 62 games after being selected to the All-Star Game last season for the only time in his seven year career.

CLEVELAND INDIANS

Trevor Bauer is expected to be out until mid-September because of a stress fracture in his right leg, but the right-hander is vowing to do everything he can to beat that timetable.

Bauer started playing catch from his knees with an athletic trainer Aug. 17 while wearing a walking boot. The idea is for Bauer to keep his arm in shape while his leg heals. He was struck by a line drive off the bat of the Chicago White Sox’s Jose Abreu on Aug. 11.

Bauer’s record (12-6, 2.22 ERA in 25 starts) had made him a contender for the American League Cy Young Award. He also has 214 strikeouts in 166 innings.

Right-hander Adam Plutko was recalled from Class AAA Columbus (Ohio) to take Bauer’s rotation spot.

❚ Center fielder Leonys Martin was released from a hospital Aug. 19, 11 days after contracting a bacterial infection that affected his internal organs. There was no set plan for when Martin can begin rehabbing.

DETROIT TIGERS

The fourth time was the charm for Ryan Carpenter.

The rookie left-hander got his first major league win in his fourth career start Aug. 18 when the Tigers defeated the Twins 7-5 at Minnesota. Carpenter allowed three runs, one apiece in the first three innings, and got through 5 1 / 3 innings.

The start was Carpenter’s first since May 31. He was placed on the disabled list the next day because of a strained muscle in his right side and missed nearly two months before being optioned to Class AAA Toledo (Ohio).

❚ Right-handed reliever Zach McAllister was designated for assignment after allowing eight runs in 3 1 / 3 innings over three appearances. The Tigers signed McAllister following his release by the Cleveland Indians.

KANSAS CITY ROYALS

Danny Duffy is hoping his stay on the disabled list won’t last long.

The left-hander is sidelined by an impingement in his pitching shoulder. He felt pain during a loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Aug. 11, a game in which he allowed six runs in 5 1 / 3 innings, and then got an injection.

Duffy is 7-11 with a 4.90 ERA in 25 starts and 143 1 ⁄ 3 innings. “I felt like getting the shot would help me avoid the DL, just kind of power through it,” Duffy said. “Two hundred innings was a big goal of mine. I’m disappointed that I’m not very likely to reach that this year, but there will be another chance.

❚ Rookie right-hander Glenn Sparkman was recalled from Class AAA Omaha (Papillion, Neb.) to take Duffy’s place in the rotation. In his first career start Aug. 16, Sparkman allowed two runs in four innings against the Toronto Blue Jays and got a no decision.

MINNESOTA TWINS

Joe Mauer hasn’t had many opportunities to pinch-hit over the course of a 15-year career that has included the 2009 AL Most Valuable Player award, three batting titles and six All-Star Game selections.

But the catcher-turned-first baseman had a memorable moment off the bench Aug. 17 when he hit a three-run homer off the Detroit Tigers’ Louis Coleman in the seventh inning to give the Twins a 5-4 victory.

It was just the second pinch homer of Mauer’s career. The other came in 2009 at the since imploded Metrodome.

Mauer got a curtain call from the Target Field fans. “That was pretty special,” he said.

❚ Right-hander Ervin Santana was placed on the disabled list because of discomfort in his right middle finger. Santana had surgery on the finger in the offseason and has been limited to five starts this season.

PLAYER SPOTLIGHT

CODY ALLEN, INDIANS

It has been an up-and-down season for Allen, but the closer converted 24 of his first 27 save opportunities despite a 3.98 ERA, the highest of his seven year career, through 52 appearances. The 29-year-old has pitched better since the All-Star break, posting a 2.03 ERA in his first 12 games after having a 4.66 mark in 40 games during the first half of the season.