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White Sox place Albers on DL, may need Rodon to start

Right-handed reliever fractured finger during Thursday night's fracas

CHICAGO -- The White Sox lost Thursday night's contest to the Royals by a 3-2 margin in 13 innings.

They potentially could lose starting pitchers Chris Sale and Jeff Samardzija for five games each, which represent two of six overall suspensions handed down by Major League Baseball on Saturday coming from the melee in the bottom of the seventh of that same Thursday game.

And now the White Sox have lost right-handed reliever Matt Albers to the 15-day disabled list due to a compression fracture suffered in a finger on his throwing hand. That injury was a direct result of Thursday's fracas, as announced by general manager Rick Hahn during a Saturday morning conference call.

Albers, 32, has a 1.59 ERA over four games covering 5 2/3 innings, with five strikeouts.

"It's something that hopefully is not going to linger too long, but is going to at least put him down for 15 days," said Hahn of Albers.

A corresponding roster move will be made Sunday. Daniel Webb stands as one possible callup, with the right-hander posting a 3.99 ERA over 57 games for the White Sox last season. He has a 6.23 ERA in six games for Triple-A Charlotte this season.

Sale and Samardzija are appealing their suspensions. Their potential absence could put Carlos Rodon, the team's top prospect per MLB.com, into the mix for a spot-start from his current bullpen position. But it's too early for Hahn to discuss how the situation will play out.

"At this point we just know that both players will appeal," Hahn said. "Whether they ultimately wind up in a hearing room and having the suspensions altered in any way, it's still to be determined.

"Certainly Carlos is stretched out and does have the ability to start should he be needed. At the same time, we need to balance that against keeping him on the current program as well as some of the other potential alternatives we have within the system to make a spot start should we get to that point. So it is a possibility, but not one we are ready to commit to just at this time."

Scott Merkin is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his blog, Merk's Works, and follow him on Twitter @scottmerkin.
Read More: Chicago White Sox, Carlos Rodon, Matt Albers