Bad break: Castro likely out a month

Ramon Castro doesn't play a lot for the White Sox, not with ironman A.J. Pierzynski in front of him.

But Castro has nonetheless established himself as a quality backup catcher for the Sox, batting .235 with 4 home runs and 10 RBI in 23 games.

When Castro plays his next game is up in the air after he exited Saturday's eventual 4-3 win over the Twins in the eighth inning with a broken right hand.

Minnesota's Alexi Casilla was at the plate and he pulled back the bat on a bunt attempt. Castro appeared to lose track of the baseball and was hit flush on a knuckle.

“I called fastball away and the ball was inside,” Castro said. “I moved and forgot to get my hand back behind me. My knuckle was all the way in (to the hand), but they took it out and fixed it.”

Castro is expected to miss a month, maybe longer, and Class AAA catcher Tyler Flowers is his likely replacement.

In 64 games at Charlotte, Flowers is batting .255 with 14 home runs, 31 RBI and a .386 on-base percentage. He also has 84 strikeouts in 220 at-bats.

“I feel horrible for what happened,” said Pierzynski, who replaced Castro and wound up leading off the ninth inning with a double and scoring the winning run. “It was a freak play. When a guy bunts sometimes it's hard to see. It hit him in a bad spot. An inch higher, an inch lower, he's fine.”

Beckham apologizes:White Sox second baseman Gordon Beckham apologized Saturday for an inappropriate slur he spelled out in the infield dirt early in Monday's game against the Royals at U.S. Cellular Field.A fan in the upper deck noticed the derogatory term and contacted the Sun-Times, which first reported the story.Beckham said he was just trying to have some fun with Kansas City second baseman Chris Getz, a close friend and former teammate.He realizes he crossed the line by writing the slur in the dirt and is likely facing a fine from Major League Baseball.#8220;Obviously, I apologize and kind of want to move on,#8221; said Beckham, who played collegiate baseball at Georgia and was named the SEC Baseball Scholar Athlete of the Year in 2008. #8220;Obviously, it was meant as a joke, but obviously it was in the wrong place and I didn't mean it that way. I will just try to move on.#8220;It's one of those things that was unfortunate that happened and I want to try to move on from it.#8221;Falling star?The White Sox still are trying to set their starting rotation for after the all-star break, and Phil Humber's status was a topic of discussion.Humber (8-5, 3.10 ERA) is a candidate to be added to the American League all-star team, but he likely would have heard he had a spot before Saturday.#8220;I think they (all-star reps) called everybody,#8221; manager Ozzie Guillen said. #8220;They should tell you on Saturday. When are they going to tell you, Sunday night when everybody has to fly out?#8220;If they know anything now, I assume he didn't make it. I don't think they're going to do it in 10 minutes, unless it's an emergency. But I still have to wait and see exactly what's going on.#8221;BBA26171945Chicago White Sox starter Mark Buehrle throws during the second inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins, Saturday, July 9, 2011, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh) BBA