Blue Jays call up Velandia, demote Lind

5/7/2008 5:11 PM

TORONTO (AP) -One night after losing shortstops David Eckstein and John McDonald to injury, the Blue Jays purchased the contract of infielder Jorge Velandia from Triple-A Syracuse and sent struggling outfielder Adam Lind back to Triple-A.

With both Eckstein (right hip) and McDonald (right ankle) feeling better Wednesday, the Blue Jays chose to wait another day before deciding whether either player would wind up on the disabled list, with McDonald the more likely candidate.

Eckstein, who was injured diving for a bloop single in shallow left, had an MRI Wednesday, revealing no major damage to his hip. General manager J.P. Ricciardi said Eckstein could play ``in a pinch.''

One inning after coming on to replace Eckstein, McDonald went down clutching his ankle after catching a cleat on the turf as he went down to backhand a grounder.

``We're going to give Johnny Mac another day and see if he can fight through it,'' Ricciardi said. ``If he can, then hopefully we won't have to DL him. I don't think we can wait any longer. We really don't want to play with 24 guys for more than one day.''

McDonald was carried off the field on a cart and left the stadium on crutches, but the swelling went down so much overnight that McDonald was walking before Wednesday's game and even felt good enough to take some swings off the tee.

``It was better this morning but I don't think it's back to where I need to be,'' McDonald said. ``I'm going to hear it from my teammates for the rest of my career that I left the field on a cart and I'm not in a wheelchair today.''

McDonald is batting .182 with no homers and one RBI in 17 games, while Eckstein is batting .246 with one homer and 12 RBIs in 30 games.

Marco Scutaro finished Tuesday's 5-4 loss to Tampa Bay and was back in the starting lineup Thursday. Acquired in an offseason trade with Oakland, Scutaro is batting .200 with one homer and eight RBIs in 25 games.

The 33-year-old Velandia has a .188 average in parts of seven seasons with San Diego, Oakland, the New York Mets and Tampa Bay. He was batting .287 with three homers and 12 RBIs in 28 games at Syracuse.

``He's a glove guy, but he's turned himself into a guy who can handle the bat pretty good,'' Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said.

Lind went 1-for-19 (.053) with no homers or RBIs in six games after being called up April 19.