SAN FRANCISCO -- The Rangers placed starter Bartolo Colon on the 10-day disabled list Friday prior to the game vs. the Giants at AT&T Park. The move is retroactive to Tuesday, as the veteran recovers from a lower back strain. Texas called up infielder Hanser Alberto from Triple-A Round Rock to take Colon's spot on the roster.
Alberto rejoins the Rangers for his third stint this season. He's appeared in five games, playing second base, third base and shortstop.
"[Colon's injury is] not terribly severe," said manager Jeff Banister. "More tightness than anything else. And so we just felt like it was an opportunity to give him some extra rest and we can get a position player up here to help us in a National League ballpark."
Colon was ineffective in his most recent start Monday, against the surging A's, despite receiving extra rest from back soreness he was suffering from during the Rangers' most recent homestand. Colon can return to action as soon as Aug. 31.
"I'm optimistic that he'll be back [in the minimum 10 days]," Banister said.
Colon is 7-11 with a 5.45 ERA and 29 home runs allowed in his 21st Major League season. The 45-year-old earned career win No. 246 on Aug. 7 to surpass Dennis Martinez for the most big league victories accrued by any Latin American-born pitcher.
Banister said he is planning on Colon returning to the starting rotation.
Rangers considering using 'opener'  
The Rangers have yet to name starting pitchers for their two-game series in Los Angeles on Tuesday and Wednesday. Banister acknowledged that he has considered using an "opener" for one of those games.
"We've talked about that," Banister said. "We're looking at those options for us. It's something that we definitely want to look at and explore."
Another possibility would be for the Rangers to deploy a tandem strategy, similar to what they executed Tuesday. Against the A's, Ariel Jurado and Matt Moore combined to throw eight innings to preserve the Rangers' bullpen for the series finale Wednesday.
"We've been doing some of the stuff that we really thought could help us out with our pitching staff," Banister said, "some of the tandem-type situations, where we have a starter come in, we send him out for five or four-plus [innings]. And if our bullpen's in good shape, using one of those multi-inning guys to get us to that back-end situation."
Rangers beat
• Although he's not expected to play at third base this series, Adrian Beltre is the all-time leader in games (318), doubles (86) and total bases (592) in Interleague play. Beltre is also third in hits (360), trailing just Ichiro Suzuki (367) and Derek Jeter (364). He will be available off the bench in San Francisco.
• Banister has 318 career wins as a manager, fifth most in Rangers history. He trails Buck Showalter by one win.
• Joey Gallo started in center field Friday for just the third time this season.