the veteran sluggers not

CLEVELAND - Jason Giambi has never taken a single day as a major leaguer for granted. Terry W. Ruskowski Jersey . And at 43, the veteran sluggers not about to start. Giambi was activated from the disabled list on Tuesday by the Cleveland Indians, who also recalled right-hander Trevor Bauer from Triple-A Columbus to start against Detroit and made several other roster moves. Although he wasnt in the starting lineup to face Justin Verlander, Giambi is grateful to be back in any capacity. "Its fun to have your name on the lineup card and get a chance to help the ball club out," he said. Giambi had been placed on the DL on May 5 with a strained calf he injured a day earlier against the Chicago White Sox. It was his Giambis second trip to the DL after he fractured a rib during spring training. Before he went on the DL last month, Giambi, who has 438 career homers, was hitless in 10 at-bats. Its been a rough start. "I went basically from a broken rib, played a few games, calf injury," he said. "That kind of happens when you get that short spring training and dont get to play much. Its definitely hard to get going and come back to the cold weather, but Im excited to be back." The Indians also promoted utility man Justin Sellers from Triple-A Columbus and optioned infielder Jose Ramirez to the Clippers. First baseman Jesus Aguilar, who had two RBIs in Mondays win over Detroit, and left-hander T.J. House were optioned back to the minor leagues to clear room for Giambi and Bauer. Indians manager Terry Francona intends to use Giambi in pinch-hitting situations. Hell also be used at designated hitter, and could see more time if Carlos Santana, who is batting .148, continues to struggle. Giambi said if there was one positive about his calf injury, its that it didnt prevent him from keeping his swing sharp. "I was able to do everything," he said. "I could hit. I could do everything else. With the rib, I basically couldnt do anything. I was shut down for basically five weeks, not doing anything. "So, that was nice. I could still hit, throw, everything but run. I kept up with my hitting, which was great. I feel like I could catch up, like I dont have to make up that time to get some swings in, so thats big for me." Bauer will be making his second start. The right-hander, who went 4-1 with a 2.15 ERA in seven starts in the minors, will match up against Verlander and face Detroits fearsome lineup for the first time. The 23-year-old Bauer struck out eight in a spot start against San Diego on April 9. He took the loss, but went back to Columbus and continued to dominate. "We were glad we got a chance to glimpse the last outing, and then he went back to Triple-A and kicked it into gear," Francona said. "Weve been talking for a year, this guys a big part of what we want to do going forward. And to see him growing and understanding, its exciting." John Marino Jersey . First, the Red Wings scored the tying goal after officials missed the puck hitting the protective netting, then the Kings wound up losing in a shootout. That could affect playoff positioning in the Eastern and Western Conferences, and thats a concern for everyone. Rob Scuderi Jersey . Villarreals victory in Valencia kept it in fourth place and in control of Spains last Champions League spot. Uche broke free in the area in the 10th minute and was brought down by goalkeeper Keylor Navas, who was shown a direct red card.INDIANAPOLIS -- Chuck Pagano couldnt believe his eyes. Andrew Luck couldnt believe his ears. Colts fans couldnt believe the scoreboard, and the Kansas City Chiefs couldnt believe their incredibly bad luck. It seemed unfathomable. On a day Luck appeared to be pressing and, at times, as bad as he ever has while putting Indianapolis in a 28-point deficit, the Colts quarterback somehow turned things around. He threw three of his four touchdowns in the second half, scored on a fumble return and connected with a wide-open T.Y. Hilton on a 64-yard TD pass to give the Colts an improbable 45-44 wild-card victory Saturday. "One for the ages," said Pagano, Indianapolis coach. "I think somebody said that it was the second-largest comeback or whatever in the history of whatever. I guess 21 wasnt large enough at half, so we thought weve give them another seven, you know, just to make it interesting." Actually, rallying from 28 down made the latest of Lucks amazing comebacks one to remember. Indianapolis (12-5) became only the second playoff team to rally from that big a deficit, according to STATS. Buffalo rallied from 32 points to beat Houston 41-38 in January 1993, though that one required overtime. The teams 1,049 combined total yards set an NFL post-season record, and their 89 combined points is third on the all-time list. The Colts, winners of four straight, travel to either Denver or New England next weekend for the divisional round. Luck was an incredible mix of good and bad, finishing 29 of 45 for 443 yards, the second-highest yardage total in franchise history for a playoff game. He also matched his career high with three interceptions. Hilton broke franchise playoff records with 13 catches and 224 yards, and also caught two TDs. But it was the way Indy won that made it stunning. Luck played angry and frantic, turning a steady stream of halftime boos into a chorus of cheers. "I dont know if it ever crossed my mind on how it would be remembered," Luck said after winning his first playoff game four seasons quicker than it took his predecessor, Peyton Manning. "When I took a knee, and you feel the buzz and the energy of the crowd and see your teammates faces, that makes it special." For Kansas City, it was another brief, miserable post-season appearance. The Chiefs (11-6) finished their remarkable turnaround season with three straight losses and an eighth straight post-season defeat -- none more shocking than this one. The eight consecutive losses broke a tie with the Detroit Lions for the longest playoff skid. And they were beaten up, too. Starting running back Jamaal Charles left with a concussion on the opening possession. Knile Davis, Charles backup, leeft in the fourth quarter with what appeared to be a left knee injury. Johan Hedberg Jersey. Receiver Donnie Avery and cornerback Brandon Flowers were knocked out with second-half concussions, and linebacker Justin Houston was out with a knee injury when Hilton caught the winning pass. That put even more pressure on Alex Smith, who was 30 of 46 for 378 yards with four TDs and no interceptions but lost a fumble that led to a touchdown for Indy. Just about everyone other than the Colts figured Smith sealed the win with a 10-yard TD pass to Davis less than two minutes into the third quarter. Instead, he tried to rally the Chiefs after Hiltons score and wound up throwing to Dwayne Bowe -- who caught the ball but was out of bounds -- on fourth-and-11 with 1:55 to play from the Indy 43. "Anytime youre leading like that and then have them battle back and then take it, and you end up losing by a point, its tough, a tough pill to swallow," Smith said. Things appeared bleak with Indy trailing 31-10 at halftime, and they got worse when Lucks first pass of the second half was picked off and returned to the Indy 18. Three plays later, Smith made it 38-10. But Luck had plenty of time to make the jaw-dropping rally. With Indy going no-huddle, Luck started throwing at will. He eventually caught the Chiefs defence off-guard when Donald Brown scored on a 10-yard run to start the rally. Then Luck capitalized on the fumble by hooking with Brown on a 3-yard TD pass to make it 38-24. After Lucks third interception turned into a 42-yard field goal, he answered with a 12-yard TD pass to cut the deficit to 41-31 after three quarters. "Hes as advertised. He went out there and definitely avoided some pressure and made big plays down the field," Chiefs cornerback Sean Smith said, referring to Luck. Even when Eric Berry jarred the ball loose from Brown near the goal line, Luck had the answer. He scooped up the bouncing ball and squirted through the middle to make it 41-38. And after a Kansas City field, goal, Luck found Hilton to win it. "It seemed surreal, being down like we were down and then you have that fourth-down stop and they had used their last timeout there at the 2-minute warning," Pagano said. "Thinking about how good tomorrows going to be, snow or no snow, I dont really care." Notes: The Chiefs rushed for 150 yards on 32 carries, even with Charles out most of the game. ... Colts K Adam Vinatieri became the first player in NFL history to score 200 points in the playoffs. He now has 205. ... Indy won its first playoff game without Manning since Jan. 7, 1996, when Jim Harbaugh was the QB. ... The Chiefs fell to 0-4 vs. Colts in playoff matchups. ' ' '