Crede back at the hot corner

BALTIMORE - Juan Uribe started 22 straight games at third base for the White Sox, and he got the job done with the bat (17 hits in his last 53 at-bats) and glove.

Uribe, who also plays shortstop and second base, is back in a reserve role after Joe Crede returned to the 25-man roster Monday. Crede was sidelined since July 22 with a sore lower back.

Crede was 0-for-12 on a rehab assignment with Class AAA Charlotte before going 2-for-4 Sunday. The 29-year-old third baseman played his first game with Charlotte on Aug. 1 but had to shut it down the following day.

"I was getting ready for the game and I was kind of feeling it and hoping it would go away," Crede said. "Right before the game, I was hitting in the cage and it was just kind of throbbing back there again. That needed to be addressed and we were able to do that."

Crede saw back specialists in Los Angeles and Phoenix in early August and he also had a cortisone shot.

"It just turned out to be a little bit of scar tissue and inflammation in the whole side joint area," said Crede, who had season-ending back surgery on June 12, 2007. "It was just inflamed. Dr. (Robert) Watkins out in L.A. was saying, 'There's nothing structurally wrong here; your back looks good. There's no need for surgery.' He said the joint was just inflamed and I'm sure that's what was causing the pain there."

Crede started at third base Monday in both games against the Orioles.

"He seems fine," said Sox manager Ozzie Guillen. "He's going to play today and tomorrow and then after that we'll see. I might give him one day to relax a little bit. He looked good. He swung the bat good. He hit a couple balls good. He's going to be out there."

Slow go: Injured relief pitcher Scott Linebrink threw his fourth bullpen Monday, but he's not planning on coming off the disabled list anytime soon.

"Still just throwing all fastballs," Linebrink said. "Not much changed."

Linebrink, who has been on the disabled list since July 23 with shoulder soreness, was hoping to return by Sept. 1.

The right-hander didn't sound overly optimistic about anything on Monday.

"I don't know if I'd say I'm feeling better," said the 32-year-old Linebrink, who signed a four-year, $19-million contract with the White Sox in the off-season. "I think the ball coming out of my hand today was a little better. I hope to continue to move forward and continue to see improvement. We prefer it be a little bit more drastic improvement than what we are seeing, but it may be one day it just decides to turn around for us."

Roster moves: To make room for Joe Crede, the Sox placed center fielder Dewayne Wise (strained left groin) on the 15-day disabled list.

In an attempt to beef up their bullpen, the White Sox recalled Lance Broadway and optioned infielder Chris Getz back to Class AAA Charlotte.

Getz played in seven games for the Sox and batted .286 (2-for-7). Broadway was sent to Charlotte on Aug. 14 after starting against the Royals and allowing 2 runs over 5.2 innings while getting the win.