by Paul Hoynes, Plain Dealer Reporter , Plain Dealer

Brantley, expected to rejoin the Indians lineup tonight against the Chicago White Sox after missing three games with a sore right ankle, is hitting .323 (30-for-93) in 23 games after getting promoted from Class AAA Columbus on Sept. 1.

"You wish it would happen like this all the time," Brantley said. "I just wanted to make sure I came up here, took it all in and learned from the older guys. They have helped me so much. I wish I could say it was like that all the time, but it's not.

"It's always going to be a game about adjustments. I'm going to have to come up here next year and make an adjustment so I can hopefully do the same thing. . . . If you play this game long enough, there are going to be highs and lows."

Brantley replaced Grady Sizemore in center field and the leadoff spot Sept. 4. Sizemore's season ended because of elbow and groin injuries that required surgery.

The Indians' offense has not suffered in Brantley's hands.

"I'm very excited just to be here," he said. "To be able to come out and be able to show right away what some of my talents and capabilities are is very exciting.

"I didn't want to come out here and try to do too much. I just keep telling myself to calm down and relax."

Brantley had trouble with his ankle this year at Columbus.

End of the line: Right-hander Joe Smith's season is over because of an injury to his left knee. Lonnie Soloff, Indians head athletic trainer, said Smith will have surgery at the end of the season.

"Joe can pitch," Soloff said, "but he can't move laterally because of his knee."

Soloff said the arthroscopic surgery will be used to clean the "loose bodies" out of Smith's knee.

Chris Perez, another reliever, also will have surgery at the end of the season.

Perez has a condition called Os trigonum in his left ankle. It's an extra bone in the back of the ankle that needs to be removed.

"It's present in 15 percent of the population," Soloff said. "It doesn't bother Chris when he pitches, but it interferes with his conditioning."

Two types of surgeries are used in this procedure, one that involves a ligament transplant and takes a long recovery time. Perez will undergo the less invasive operation.

Sign here: The Indians announced the signing of 15 international free agents from Venezuela, Panama and the Dominican Republic.

* Dominican Republic: outfielder Angel Hernandez, left-hander Alexander Joseph, infielders Jairo Kelly, Luigy Rodriguez and Jorge Martinez and right-handers Amiro Santana and Juan Santana.

* Venezuela: right-handers Juan Carlos De la Cruz, Nietzer Jimenez and Alejandro Rivas, infielder Richard Delgado and catcher Gustavo Rojas.

* Panama: left-hander Jonathan Cedeno and catcher Franklin Moreno.

The Indians took a long time to announce these signings because they paid MLB to do DNA testing to help identify some of the players. Last year they paid $575,000 to Jose Ozoria, a 17-year-old shortstop from the Dominican Republic.

It turned out Ozoria was actually Wally Bryan, who was three years older than Ozoria.

Nice gift: Devonte Smith, a student at Kent State, is the first winner of the Sandy Alomar Jr. Scholarship award, worth $2,000. Smith will be honored before tonight's game.

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