Struggling Garcia being sent back to Chicago

DETROIT - After coming out of his second straight start Tuesday night with lower back stiffness, Freddy Garcia was sent back to Chicago to be evaluated.

"We want to make sure we take everything out of our mind how clear he is and how bad he is," manager Ozzie Guillen said. "Make sure we know there is nothing wrong or there is something wrong. We'll find out.

"I hope he does pitch, but I don't think going to two starts with that and to fail both times, we'll figure out who is going to take his spot."

Garcia, who lasted just 2 innings against the Tigers Tuesday night and 4 innings at Cleveland the start before that, is scheduled to face the Royals Sunday at U.S. Cellular Field.

Assuming he is scratched, Guillen said Lucas Harrell is likely to step in, and reliever Tony Pena is the other option.

Beckham better: Gordon Beckham missed his second straight game with a sore right hand, and he's not expected to be back in the lineup until Friday.

Beckham's absence has been huge, because Omar Vizquel has had to move over to second base while error-prone Mark Teahen's had to play third.

Beckham did have another X-ray on Wednesday, which was negative, and said he's feeling much better.

"The part that was bothering me (Tuesday) has calmed down a little bit," Beckham said. "It still hurts in that area. My knuckles are still sore, for some reason. But I feel like the swelling has gone down a little bit. I swung 10-15 swings, and it just felt OK."

Talking Thome: Jim Thome sat out Wednesday night's game against the Royals with a mild abdominal strain, but the former White Sox slugger has been carrying the first-place Twins with 4 home runs and 7 RBI in his last 3 games.

Sox manager Ozzie Guillen was again asked about not bringing Thome back for another season.

"I know he's going to hit," Guillen said. "I really don't put attention to that. He had big hits for a lot of people. He had big hits for us. If it's not Thome, then it's going to be (Justin) Morneau. Jim is playing just because Morneau (concussion) is not there.

"And I'm glad for Jimmy. I'm very happy for him. He proved people he could still play. I never said we thought he couldn't play anymore. We're not in second place right now because of Jimmy. We're in second place right now because Minnesota plays good and we have two very bad months."