Indians place Andrew Miller, Danny Salazar on DL

The first-place Indians will have to maintain their 5.5 game lead in the AL Central without reliever Andrew Miller and starting pitcher Danny Salazar, as both were placed on the 10-day DL Tuesday.

Miller, who was placed on the DL at the beginning of the month with tendinitis in the patella tendon, seemed to re-aggravate the injury after throwing just seven pitches in last night’s win against the Red Sox. His velocity was considerably lower than normal during his short stay in the seventh inning before being removed. He had just been activated by the Indians on Friday.

Salazar finds himself in a similar boat. He missed almost a month with elbow soreness before coming back strong at the end of July, where he began a stretch of starts in which he allowed just five earned runs in 32 ¹⁄₃ innings while striking out 46 batters. However, he was tagged in his last start against the Royals, and now finds himself back on the DL.

The injuries are a major blow to the Indians’ pitching staff, as Miller and his team-best 1.65 ERA was Terry Francona’s most valuable bullpen commodity. Francona still has Corey Kluber to anchor the rotation, however Salazar seemed to have turned a corner in a big way before his clunker against Kansas City.

The Indians have called up right-hander Shawn Armstrong and utility man Yandy Diaz from Triple-A to replace Miller and Salazar, whom the Indians hope to have back sooner than later.