Indians acquire INF-OF Lillibridge from Red Sox

CLEVELAND (AP) — The Cleveland Indians acquired veteran Brent Lillibridge from the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday, adding some backup versatility as they seek to stay in the AL Central race.

Minor-league right-hander Jose De La Torre was sent to Boston, which had acquired Lillibridge on June 24 as part of the trade that sent corner infielder Kevin Youkilis to the Chicago White Sox.

Lillibridge has seen extensive action at every position except pitcher and catcher in his career. He is expected to be used in a utility role after joining the Indians on Wednesday when the team will have to clear a spot on the 25-man roster for him.

"He's a guy we can use to give (shortstop Asdrubal) Cabrera and (second baseman Jason) Kipnis a rest," manager Manny Acta said.

The 28-year-old Lillibridge has hit .212 in 295 games for Atlanta, the White Sox and Boston.

"We're not bringing him here to be in the middle of the lineup," Acta said. "Infielders who hit .300 are not on the bench."

To make room on the 40-man roster, Cleveland transferred third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall from the 15-day disabled list to the 60-day DL. Chisenhall has a broken right forearm.

De La Torre was 8-1 with a 2.91 ERA in 34 games between Triple-A Columbus and Double-A Akron.

The Indians don't quite have a handle on whether or not they intend to be buyers or sellers as the July 31 trade deadline approaches. They entered a three-game series against AL Central leading Detroit on Tuesday four games back of the Tigers.

A year ago, the Indians were in a similar situation. They trailed the Tigers by 2½ games and sent four minor-league prospects to the Colorado Rockies for former NL All-Star right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez at the deadline.

Jimenez went 4-4 for Cleveland, which faded to an 80-82 finish, 15 games behind Detroit.

This year, the Indians are hoping to get a boost by activating left-handed reliever Rafael Perez and bringing back right-hander Roberto Hernandez, formerly known as Fausto Carmona, to the rotation.

Perez, out since April 26 with a sore shoulder, pitched two scoreless innings on a rehab assignment Monday at Akron. Acta said he was encouraged by the outing, but the organization is not yet ready to activate Perez.

"We'll have him pitch some more and then evaluate things," Acta said.

Hernandez, 31, is scheduled to start Thursday night at Class A Lake County.

"He'll go four or five innings and not exceed 75 pitches," Acta said.

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