Giants lose Affeldt to freak injury

San Francisco Giants reliever Jeremy Affeldt has landed on the disabled list for a non-baseball injury for the second time in less than eight months.

The left-hander from Northwest Christian High School in Colbert sprained his right knee Saturday night when he reached out to catch his 4-year-old son, Walker, as the 60-pound boy jumped off the couch to hug his arriving father.

Affeldt said he heard a pop but didn’t think there was anything seriously wrong. Then he woke up at 4 a.m. Sunday with throbbing pain and headed to the ballpark a few hours later after …

San Francisco Giants reliever Jeremy Affeldt has landed on the disabled list for a non-baseball injury for the second time in less than eight months.

The left-hander from Northwest Christian High School in Colbert sprained his right knee Saturday night when he reached out to catch his 4-year-old son, Walker, as the 60-pound boy jumped off the couch to hug his arriving father.

Affeldt said he heard a pop but didn’t think there was anything seriously wrong. Then he woke up at 4 a.m. Sunday with throbbing pain and headed to the ballpark a few hours later after icing the knee with a package of frozen vegetables. An MRI exam revealed the sprain for Affeldt, who last Sept. 8 sliced his non-throwing hand nearly to the artery while separating frozen hamburgers.

Manager Bruce Bochy said Affeldt’s recovery is typically 7 to 10 days, but he could need a short rehab assignment.

“I was actually separating frozen hamburgers and I slipped on the floor,” Affeldt joked. “I came home and my sons are usually pretty happy to see me and he jumped off the couch, ran over and I squatted down to give him a hug and when he jumped, I kind of caught him weird and my knee kind of shifted in a bit. I felt some pressure on the knee.”

Affeldt is 0-1 with a 4.09 ERA in 10 outings this year.

Johnny Damon joined the Cleveland Indians and manager Manny Acta plans to put his new outfielder in the starting lineup tonight against the Chicago White Sox. The 38-year-old Damon, in his 18th major league season, needs 277 hits to reach 3,000. … Tampa Bay placed third baseman Evan Longoria, on the 15-day disabled list with a partially torn left hamstring. The three-time All-Star, hurt on Monday night while attempting to steal second base, is expected to be sidelined four to eight weeks … The Detroit Tigers’ 9-3 win over the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday was the 1,600th of manager Jim Leyland’s career, breaking a tie with Tommy Lasorda for 17th place on the all-time list. … The 5.83 ERA for the Yankees’starting rotation is higher than every major league team except Minnesota.