Royals designate Mateo, bring up Pickering

— -- KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Kansas City Royals designated outfielder Ruben Mateo for assignment Sunday and purchased the contract of first baseman Calvin Pickering from Triple-A Omaha. Also, the Royals recalled outfielder Matt Stairs from the 15-day disabled list and put first baseman Ken Harvey on the 15-day DL. Pickering hit 35 home runs for Omaha in just 299 at-bats, or one about every 8½ at-bats. Stairs is returning from a bruised rib cage. Harvey strained a muscle in the rib cage on Saturday during batting practice. With the addition of Pickering, the Royals have set a team record with 54 players used in a season. The major league record is 59, set by Cleveland and San Diego in 2002.