CLEVELAND (AP) — The Indians could be without Gold Glove catcher Roberto Pérez for months. Pérez had surgery to fix a fractured ring finger. He suffered the injury last month and played nearly three weeks with it before the discomfort became too much. Pérez hurt his finger when the got crossed up by reliever James Karinchak and caught a pitch with his bare hand. The loss of Pérez is a significant blow to the AL Central-leading Indians. He’s one of baseball’s best defensive catchers and handles Cleveland’s strong pitching staff. Austin Hedge will be Cleveland’s primary catcher while Pérez is sidelined.
