AROUND THE HORN

■ Indians: LHP Andrew Miller, nursing a sore shoulder, threw 33 pitches off a mound and said he’s ready to pitch in a game. “I think the next step is to handle that adrenaline again,” said Miller, who has been out since Aug. 29 . ...

3B Josh Donaldson is expected to be activated for the upcoming series against the Rays.

■ Rangers: RHP Bartolo Colon was told he will pitch out of the bullpen as the Rangers try September call-up Adrian Sampson in the rotation. Sampson will start Tuesday against the Angels, manager Jeff Banister said. Colon

(7-12, 5.55) allowed five runs in four innings in his last start. Colon, 45, is unlikely to return next season.

■ Twins: RHP Ervin Santana might miss the rest of the season while receiving a series of platelet-rich plasma injections in the middle finger of his pitching hand. The two-time All-Star had surgery Feb. 6 to remove a calcium deposit on the finger and didn’t make his season debut until July 25. Santana is 149-125 with a 4.06 ERA in 14 seasons.

■ Reds: Joey Votto ended a two-month homer drought with the Reds’ 11th grand slam, one shy of the NL record, in a 7-2 victory over the Padres that was called because of rain in the seventh inning. Votto’s first home run since July 9 ended the second-longest drought of his career. He had gone 36 games without a home run. Matt Harvey struck out 10 in six innings, giving up two runs on four hits.

■ Pirates: Josh Bell homered for the second game in a row, Ivan Nova got his first victory in a month and the Pirates beat the Marlins 5-1 for their fifth consecutive win. Nova gave up three hits in six shutout innings, striking out nine. Marlins starter Wei-Yin Chen dropped to 1-7 with a 9.13 ERA in 11 road starts. He is 5-3 with a 1.77 ERA in 12 home outings . ... RF Gregory Polanco will miss the rest of the season because of a bone bruise in his left knee. Polanco leads the team with 23 home runs and 81 RBIs. He also had a team-high 61 extra-base hits.