MLB: Yankees place pitcher CC Sabathia on 10-day DL with knee inflammation

The New York Yankees have put pitcher CC Sabathia on the 10-day disabled list because of right knee inflammation.

The Yankees made a series of roster moves before hosting the New York Mets on Monday night. Reliever George Kontos was promoted from Triple-A, infielder Ronald Torreyes rejoined the Yankees and first baseman Luke Voit was sent to the minors.

Sabathia was put on the DL a day after pitching six shutout innings of one-hit ball against Texas. The 38-year-old left-hander is 7-4 with a 3.32 ERA in 22 starts.

Sabathia has been bothered by knee trouble for several seasons. Boosted by a brace, he’s been able to pitch effectively despite the problem.

“We knew it was part of the program that there was going to be times during the season that he would need a timeout,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said. “So postgame yesterday, he shared with us that he would be best served by skipping a start, so that’s what we’re going to do.”

“We knew it was part of managing his knee throughout this particular year. He’s a pro and he’s made us aware and we appreciate that, and it gives us a chance to deviate and allow him to resuscitate and that’s all we’re going to do,” he said.

Kontos made his big league debut with the Yankees in 2011. The 33-year-old righty was a combined 2-3 with one save and a 4.68 ERA for Pittsburgh and Cleveland this season.

The 25-year-old Torreyes hit .323 in 24 games for the Yankees before being sent to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Voit, acquired from St. Louis in a trade last month, hit .188 with two RBIs in five games for New York.

The Yankees also transferred left-hander Jordan Montgomery (elbow) to the 60-day disabled list.

Indians outfielder Martin recovering from serious infection

Cleveland Indians outfielder Leonys Martin is recovering from a bacterial infection that team president Chris Antonetti described as “life-threatening.”

Martin is in stable condition at the Cleveland Clinic. Antonetti provided an update on Martin’s status when he addressed the team prior to Monday’s series opener against the Reds.

Doctors determined Martin had a bacterial infection that entered his bloodstream and created toxins that damaged his internal organs, compromising their function.

Antonetti says it was “very serious.” But he says Martin has made a lot of progress in the last 24 to 36 hours.

Royals place Duffy on disabled list, recall Sparkman

The Kansas City Royals placed left-hander Danny Duffy on the 10-day disabled list Monday with a shoulder impingement.

The 29-year-old Duffy received an anti-inflammatory shot after allowing six runs in 5 1/3 innings in Saturday’s 8-3 loss to St. Louis. He has lost three of his last four starts.

“I felt like getting the shot would help me avoid the DL, just kind of power through it,” Duffy said. “Two hundred innings was a big goal of mine. I’m disappointed that I’m not very likely to reach that this year, but there will be another chance.

“There is no sense in pushing through something and risking further injury that could keep me shelved for a long time. I’m not happy about it. It’s best for the team.”

Duffy, who is 7-11 with a 4.90 ERA in 25 starts, was on the disabled list twice last year. He is hopeful he will only miss one start.

Kansas City also recalled rookie right-hander Glenn Sparkman from Triple-A Omaha. He will make his first major league start in Duffy’s spot Thursday against Toronto.

Sparkman is 0-1 with a 5.06 ERA in eight appearances with the Royals this year. He pitched 4 1/3 innings of two-run ball in Friday’s loss to the Cardinals, and then was sent down on Sunday.

Baseball with signatures of 11 greats fetches $623,369

How could a baseball artifact possibly top a ball signed by both Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig?

How about a ball signed by Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Ty Cobb, Cy Young, Tris Speaker, George Sisler, Walter Johnson, Connie Mack, Nap Lajoie, Eddie Collins and Pete Alexander, on the day they all entered the Baseball Hall of Fame?

Such a ball just sold for $623,369, SCP auctions said Monday. That crushes the record of $345,000 for a signed baseball, set in 2013 for a Ruth-Gehrig ball.

The seller was not identified, and the winner who outbid 28 other prospective buyers for the ball was identified only as a Southern California collector.

The only living original inductee who didn’t sign the ball was Lou Gehrig, who on that day was headed to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota where he’d be diagnosed with ALS, the disease that would end his career, take his life and unofficially bear his name.

It was on June 12, 1939, that the Baseball Hall of Fame first opened its doors, though it had been choosing members for three years by then. Most were already dead.

Marv Owen, a star third baseman for the Detroit Tigers who was there to play in an exhibition marking the occasion, recognized the moment’s significance and brought two balls that he had the 11 men sign — one for himself, and one for his former teammate Hank Greenberg.

“With autographed balls, very few can you trace to the point of origin, the point of signing, where you know the circumstances of where it was acquired,” said Dan Imler, vice president of SCP Auctions. “It’s incredible. It almost puts you in that moment, which is very, very rare for a ball.”

Several signed balls have survived from that day, but most have signatures from other players or dignitaries that diminish their value.

The names weren’t haphazardly scrawled all over the ball, either. It was as though Owen had future collectors in mind when he collected the signatures in dark, lasting ink. And their placement doesn’t seem random either. On one panel of the ball, stacked atop each other, are Cobb, Ruth and Wagner, at the time considered the three greatest players of all time, with Walter Johnson, then considered the greatest pitcher of all time, hovering above them.

“Ultimately that panel of Cobb, Ruth, Wagner is what puts it over the top,” said Kevin Keating of Professional Sports Authenticator, who verified the ball’s legitimacy. “Those are the elite of the elite. The fact that he got those guys the way he did, in that perfect order on one panel, it’s almost as if it’s by design.”

Owen put his ball in a safe-deposit box, and his family kept it until 1997, when it sold for $55,000.

Greenberg’s ball has been lost to history.