CLEVELAND -- The Indians welcomed back first baseman Carlos Santana from the paternity list on Saturday after the birth of his third child.
To make room for Santana, the Indians optioned right-hander Shawn Armstrong to Triple-A Columbus, leaving the club with seven relievers for the final two games before the All-Star Game.
Santana had been with his wife, Brittany, since the birth of Luna Star Santana, their second child together, on Wednesday. Santana sat out the maximum three games and returned to the lineup on Saturday to face Detroit's Justin Verlander, against whom he's homered in each of the last eight seasons.
Santana didn't homer, but he did hit two doubles in Cleveland's 4-0 win.
"It really looked like he hadn't skipped a beat at all, and really, the time away might have kind of been really refreshing for him," said bench coach and acting manager Brad Mills.<o:p>
Santana is the third Indian to go on the paternity list this year, following closer Cody Allen and left fielder Michael Brantley in June. Brantley, who has four children with his wife, and Santana have talked plenty with Allen, who's wife welcomed their first child.
"[Brantley] was more experienced for that," Santana said. "Cody, this is the first one, so we talked about that. We have fun for that. We've gotten the opportunity for a beautiful family and baby. Everything's fine. I'm very happy."
Because the Indians only used their bullpen for nine innings in the last five days -- including one total inning for back-end stoppers Allen and Andrew Miller -- they felt comfortable only keeping seven relievers for the two games before the break.
Rehab start for Salazar
• Injured right-hander Danny Salazar threw a side session at Progressive Field in front of pitching coach Mickey Callaway on Saturday and is scheduled for a rehab start with Class A Short Season Mahoning Valley on Tuesday. <!--

This will be Salazar's third rehab start since being placed on the 10-day disabled list in early June with right shoulder soreness. He gave up six runs over five runs between his other two starts earlier this month with Double-A Akron and Triple-A Columbus.
Tuesday's outing for the Scrappers was not meant as a demotion -- Mahoning Valley was the only affiliate not on an All-Star break or with a day off. Salazar is scheduled to throw 75 pitches.