Former Chicago White Sox catcher Joel Skinner will rejoin the organization as their manager at Triple-A Charlotte.

Skinner, who played for the Sox from 1983 to 1986, was the bench coach for Oakland last season after spending 10 seasons on Cleveland’s coaching staff.

Skinner, 50, managed six years in the Indians’ system and led his team to the playoffs five times. Skinner takes over for Joe McEwing, who was promoted as the Sox’s third base coach.

Tim Laker, who was Charlotte’s hitting coach last year, will take over as the minor league hitting coordinator. He replaces Jeff Manto, now the Sox’s hitting coach.

Andy Tomberlin moves up from Double-A Birmingham to become the hitting coach at Charlotte.

Brandon Moore rejoins the Sox’s organization as Birmingham’s hitting coach. Moore, 39, was an infielder in the Sox’s system from 1994 to 2000. He spent the past 11 seasons as a hitting coach, most recently in the Pittsburgh organization.

Here are the 2012 minor league staff assignments:

Buddy Bell – Director of Player Development

Nick Capra – Field Coordinator

Kirk Champion, Curt Hasler  – Pitching coordinators

Tim Laker – Hitting Coordinator

Daryl Boston – Outfield Instructor

Ever Magallanes – Infield Instructor

John Orton – Catching Instructor

Devon White – Baserunning Instructor

Dale Torborg – Conditioning Coordinator

Scott Takao – Minor League Medical/Rehab. Coordinator

Geronimo Mendoza – Latin Culture Coordinator

Coaching Assistants – Robbie Cummings, Jerry Hairston, Chet DiEmidio

CLEVELAND (AP)—Asdrubal Cabrera(notes) has become the Cleveland Indians’ best
offensive shortstop in more than 60 years.

Cabrera drove in five runs and Jeanmar Gomez(notes) won his fifth straight start
for Cleveland as the Indians beat the Chicago White Sox 11-2 on Thursday night
to remain in second place in the AL Central.

Cabrera hit a three-run homer and two-run single, tying his career-high for
RBIs and giving him 92 for the season. That’s the most by an Indians shortstop
since Hall of Famer Lou Boudreau drove in 106 on the way to winning AL MVP
honors and leading Cleveland to its last World Series title—in 1948.

“It’s remarkable what he’s been doing,” Indians manager Manny Acta said.
“What a night! This guy has been putting together some really good numbers.”

Cabrera’s seventh-inning homer put Cleveland ahead 8-2 and was his 25th of
the year, one more than the previous club record for a shortstop by Jhonny
Peralta(notes) in 2005.

“I’m excited and pretty happy about that,” said Cabrera, who entered this
year with 18 homers in 387 career games. “I don’t think too much about (getting
100 RBIs). I’ll just do the best I can and after the season see what numbers I
get.”

Travis Hafner(notes) reached a milestone number, too, singling for his 1,000th
career hit, and Kosuke Fukudome(notes) added three RBIs as Cleveland moved 1 1/2 games
ahead of the White Sox.

Hafner, in and out of the lineup due to a series of injuries the past four
seasons, was grateful for the fan ovation after being replaced by pinch-runner
Cord Phelps(notes) following his single.

“It was a very special moment,” Hafner said. “I never thought about it
until somebody said before the game I had 999. Then I thought about guys getting
3,000 hits. That’s 200 for 15 years, just mind-boggling.”

Gomez (5-2) gave up one earned run and four hits over six innings. Since
being recalled from Triple-A Columbus on Aug. 30, the right-hander is 5-0 with a
1.80 ERA.

“We’re not handing out jobs in September, but he’s put himself in the
mix,” Acta said of Gomez’s chances of joining the Indians’ rotation in 2012.
“He threw well.”

Fukudome’s two-out, two-run single off Philip Humber(notes) (9-9) in the fifth
inning broke a 2-2 tie.

Fukudome drove Humber’s second pitch of the game over the wall in right for
his fifth homer. Four pitches later, Jason Kipnis(notes) hit his seventh for a 2-0
lead.

“I have never had that happen to me, the first two batters of the game
going deep,” Humber said.

It was the fourth time in Indians history and only the second time at home
that Cleveland opened a game with two homers. Graig Nettles and Vada Pinson did
it on June 19, 1971, at old Cleveland Stadium.

An error by Cabrera at shortstop helped Chicago tie it at 2 in the fifth.

With two outs and runners on first and second, Juan Pierre(notes) singled home
Alejandro De Aza(notes). Cabrera took the throw from right fielder Fukudome and threw
wildly trying to get Brent Morel(notes) at third. Third baseman Jack Hannahan(notes) tracked
down the ball and fired home, but Morel slid in safely with an unearned run.

The White Sox almost caught a break in the bottom half. Humber had retired
14 straight until Hannahan drew a two-out walk and apparently scored on a
slicing drive down the left-field line by Ezequiel Carrera(notes) that looked like an
RBI triple. Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen argued that a fan reached over a
railing and touched the ball. The umpires huddled, agreed, and sent Hannahan
back to third, ruling that Carrera got a ground-rule double.

Fukudome’s soft line drive to left scored them both anyway.

Humber gave up seven runs and eight hits over six innings.

“He made a couple of bad pitches,” Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen said.
“He got ahead in the count and left a couple of balls up and it hurt him. Most
of the time he has been out there he has given us a chance to win.”

Notes: Chicago won the season series 11-7. … White Sox SS Omar Vizquel(notes) and
Cleveland DH Jim Thome(notes) exchanged the lineup cards—a first for both former
Indians teammates who have a combined 44 seasons and 5,388 games in the majors.
“I hope it’s not the last time we see these guys on the same field somewhere,”
Guillen said. “The next stop for both is the Hall of Fame, but they can still
play.” … The Indians will salute Thome on Friday for surpassing 600 career
homers and his other contributions. Before Thursday’s game, Acta said the
41-year-old Thome would start at DH in Hafner’s place Friday. “Even if Hafner
hits three homers tonight, Jimmy is playing,” Acta said. “Well, maybe three
homers would change my mind.” … The last time the Indians hit two homers to
open a game, Grady Sizemore(notes) and Casey Blake(notes) did it in Kansas City on May 23,
2007. … RHP Justin Masterson(notes) (12-10) will oppose RHP Carl Pavano(notes) (8-13) on
Friday night when Cleveland opens a four-game home series against Minnesota. …
The White Sox open a three-game series at home against Kansas City on Friday
with RHP Zach Stewart(notes) (2-5) facing Royals LHP Bruce Chen(notes) (11-8).

CLEVELAND, Ohio — The White Sox gave the Indians fits throughout the season series. But the Tribe had plenty of fun at their expense in the finale Thursday night.

The Indians received quality performances from numerous players in posting an 11-2 victory at Progressive Field.

The Indians (77-78) lead the White Sox (76-80) by 1 1/2 games for second place in the AL Central behind champion Detroit.

Chicago won the season series, 11-7, including a 15-10 victory in the season opener April 1 in Cleveland. The closer was pretty much all Cleveland thanks in large part to:

• Asdrubal Cabrera. He hit a three-run homer and two-run single. The homer set a franchise single-season record by a shortstop (25).

• Kosuke Fukudome. He went 2-for-4 with a homer, a walk and three RBI. He also  made a diving catch.

• Jeanmar Gomez. He worked six strong innings to win his fifth straight start and improve to 5-2. Gomez gave up the two runs (one earned) on four hits — and looked good doing it. He ran his fastball in on lefties and had tight spin on his slider.

• Travis Hafner. He notched his 1,000th career hit and was responsible for two runs scored.

• Jason Kipnis. He followed Fukudome’s blast in the first with his own against White Sox righty Phil Humber, giving the Indians back-to-back homers to begin a first inning for just the fourth time in franchise history.

• Gomez allowed one hit through three — a two-out single up the middle by Tribe nemesis Juan Pierre in the third. It was Pierre’s 21st hit against Cleveland this season. The next batter, Alexei Ramirez, broke his bat and grounded to Gomez.

The White Sox scored two in the fifth to tie the score, 2-2. One of the runs was unearned because of Cabrera’s throwing error. Pierre — surprise — delivered an RBI single.

The Indians regained the advantage in their half of the fifth. Jack Hannahan drew a two-out walk and was speeding around the bases as Ezequiel Carrera lined a triple down the left-field line. As the ball kicked up into the railing, Hannahan scored easily.

White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen argued that the play should have been ruled a ground-rule double and Hannahan returned to third. The umpires huddled and agreed.

Fukudome made sure it did not hurt Cleveland by dumping a single into left-center. Pierre and his pop-gun arm had no shot to throw out Carrera.

Hafner’s heads-up running helped make it 5-2 in the sixth. He tagged from second to third on a one-out fly ball, putting him in prime position to score on Matt LaPorta’s slow roller through the hole at second.

The Indians opened it up in the seventh. Cabrera hit a three-run homer, his 25th in 589 official at-bats. Cabrera set the franchise single-season record for homers by a shortstop, passing Jhonny Peralta, whose 24 came in 2005.

Last season, Cabrera hit three homers in 381 at-bats.

The next batter, Hafner, ripped a double to right-center — his 1,000th career hit. He received a standing ovation and was applauded again as he exited the field for pinch-runner Cord Phelps. Phelps scored on Grady Sizemore’s single.

Cabrera hit a two-run single in the eighth, matching his career-best. It is the fourth time this season that an Indian has driven in five runs in a game.

The Tribe bullpen worked three hitless innings.

Neither Indians DH Jim Thome nor White Sox infielder Omar Vizquel played, but they did exchange lineup cards before the game. 

(Sports Network) – Jeanmar Gomez tries to continue his strong end to the
season this evening when the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox wrap up a
four-game set at Progressive Field.

Gomez won his fourth straight start since returning from Triple-A on Saturday
in Minnesota, as he held the Twins to a pair of runs and seven hits in 7 2/3
innings. He has given up just five runs in his last four starts and is 4-2 on
the year with a 3.78 earned run average.

Gomez beat the White Sox two starts ago in his only other appearance against
them, limiting them to two runs and six hits in six innings.

On Wednesday, Brent Morel went 2-for-4 with a two-run homer and three RBI to
help Chicago to an 8-4 win.

Mark Buehrle (12-9) pitched six solid innings of two-run ball to snap a
personal three-game skid, as the White Sox won for the third time in four
contests after dropping seven in a row. He scattered four hits while fanning
two.

“Buehrle threw great,” said Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen. “I think he needed
that. The last couple of games were very rough for him. Having the type of
game he had today was a bounce-back for him.”

Ubaldo Jimenez (4-3) started strong with four scoreless innings, but allowed
four runs over the next three frames to absorb the loss. He surrendered six
hits while walking two and striking out seven.

“I feel bad myself because I want to push him, try to save our bullpen a
little bit and give him an opportunity to win the ballgame,” said Indians
manager Manny Acta. “He couldn’t do it, but I could have taken him out.”

Heading to the hill for the White Sox tonight will be righty Philip Humber,
who is 9-8 with a 3.59 ERA. Humber did not get a decision on Friday in Kansas
City, but did not pitch well, as he surrendered six runs (five earned) and
nine hits in six innings of a 7-6 loss.

Humber has yet to receive a decision in four games (two starts) against the
Indians, but has pitched to a 4.32 ERA in those outings.

Chicago has won 11 of its 17 matchups with the Indians this season. The White
Sox are also 10-2 in their last 12 games at Progressive Field.

The Sports Network

CLEVELAND –

A long day ended on a high note for the Chicago White Sox.

Alexei Ramirez’s seventh-inning single broke the game’s final tie and led Chicago to a 5-4 win over the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday night, giving the White Sox a split of the day-night doubleheader.

Asdrubal Cabrera’s solo home run and six strong innings from Fausto Carmona gave Cleveland a 4-3 win in the first game.

The teams, who were eliminated from the AL Central race last week when Detroit clinched the division, are battling for second place. The Indians lead the White Sox by 1½ games.

Trailing 4-0 in the fifth, Chicago scored a run in the fifth and two runs in both the sixth and seventh.

“It made the day a little bit nicer,” manager Ozzie Guillen said. “We were down right away and I thought the whole day was going to be very long. We fought back and won the game.”

Matt Thornton (2-5) pitched 1 1-3 innings for the win in the second game and Chris Sale went the final 1 2-3 innings for his seventh save.

Cleveland took a 4-3 lead into the seventh before Chicago rallied against rookie reliever Zach Putnam (0-1). Tyler Flowers started the rally with a single and took third on Gordon Beckham’s third double of the game. Juan Pierre’s groundout tied the game before Ramirez’s bloop single to center over a drawn-in infield gave Chicago the lead.

Beckham became the first White Sox player to have three doubles in a game since Aaron Rowand in 2005.

“It’s one of those days I’ve been searching for,” Beckham said. “Unfortunately, it comes with eight games left. I’m glad we came back and won that game. We showed some fight.”

“It’s nice to see this kid swing the bat the way he did,” Guillen said of Beckham. “He was kind of down the last couple of days. We’re all glad he got those hits.”

Both teams started rookies in the second game. Dylan Axelrod, making his second major-league start, allowed four runs in 4 2-3 innings for the White Sox while Zach McAllister, in his third big-league start, gave up two runs in 5 1-3 innings for the Indians.

Cleveland used four rookie pitchers in the second game, which led to problems finding the plate. Putnam hit Paul Konerko in the hip in the seventh inning. Josh Judy hit Beckham in the back and Ramirez in the shoulder in the ninth. Guillen wasn’t happy seeing so many of his players get drilled, but didn’t think it was intentional.

“I don’t think they were throwing at them,” he said. “It’s a bunch of kids up from the minor leagues. You can do nothing about it. All you can do is run to first base and get the trainers.”

Cleveland managed one hit off Axelrod through three innings before scoring four times in the fourth. Jim Thome’s RBI single gave Cleveland the lead. Matt LaPorta’s run-scoring double and sacrifice flies by Grady Sizemore and Jack Hannahan completed the scoring.

McAllister held the White Sox scoreless until the fifth when Beckham’s RBI double scored Chicago’s first run. Alejandro De Aza’s two-run double off Rafael Perez in the sixth cut the lead to one.

Cabrera strained his back while batting in the eighth inning of the first game and didn’t play in the second game.

Carmona (7-15) allowed three runs in six innings and won for the first time since Aug. 17.

Travis Hafner and Kosuke Fukudome also homered off Gavin Floyd (12-12), who hasn’t won since Aug. 29.

Hafner’s two-run homer in the first gave Cleveland the lead, but Chicago tied the game in the second on Adam Dunn’s RBI double and De Aza’s run-scoring single.

Cabrera’s home run put Cleveland ahead and was his 24th of the season. Cabrera, who entered Saturday’s game against Minnesota in an 0-for-20 slump, has eight hits in his last 13 at-bats. He leads the Indians with 87 RBIs, eclipsing his previous career high of 68 in 2009.

“I’m really happy with what I’ve done, but I haven’t thought too much about it,” he said. “I think we’ve had a good season, and it’s not over yet.”

NOTES: The first game was the makeup of a July 23 rainout at Progressive Field. … Guillen says LHP Mark Buehrle will start Wednesday night. Buehrle (11-9, 3.74 ERA) has sore biceps after being hit with a ball in his last start. RHP Ubaldo Jimenez (4-2, 4.56) will start for the Indians. … Guillen played most of his regulars in Tuesday’s first game. … The Indians are playing nine games in seven days on their final homestand of the season. Cleveland played a makeup game with Seattle on Monday and will play another day-night doubleheader against Minnesota on Saturday. … The Indians recalled RHP Corey Kluber from Triple-A Columbus.