KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Royals placed right-hander Chien-Ming Wang on the disabled list with biceps tendinitis and made a series of roster moves to shore up their taxed bullpen before Wednesday night's game against the Yankees.

Kansas City recalled left-hander Scott Alexander and right-hander Brooks Pounders from Triple-A Omaha and optioned infielder Christian Colon to the same club.

Colon is likely to return when rosters are allowed to expand Thursday.

The Royals would have preferred to bring All-Star closer Wade Davis back from the disabled list, but he just pitched in a rehab game for Omaha on Tuesday night. He was supposed to pitch Monday night but that game was rained out, forcing him to delay his outing and preventing his return to Kansas City.

"It would have been perfect if they didn't get a rainout Monday. Wade would have been available today," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "We just needed arms. Alexander has been throwing really well. And Pounders we've seen before up here and is fresh. We just made the moves."

Davis, who has been out with flexor strain, is expected to join the Royals on Friday, when they open another crucial series against the wild-card chasing Detroit Tigers.

The Royals churned through five relievers in their rain-delayed, extra-inning loss to New York on Tuesday night. Wang tossed two scoreless innings in the game and did not appear to have any pain.

Alexander is joining the Royals for the second time this season and tossed a scoreless inning against the Yankees in his big league debut. Pounders is joining the club for the third time this season.

In other news, outfielder Lorenzo Cain got Wednesday night off as he deals with a wrist injury that has plagued him for about two weeks. Cain has been trying to play through the pain.

"With the off-day tomorrow, we felt let's go ahead and see if we can't give him a day today and a day tomorrow and at least get some of that inflammation out of there," Yost said. "It's been pretty sore. He'll take an awkward swing and it takes him a minute or two to recover from that.

"It just keeps getting sorer and sorer," Yost said. "It's not a thing that's going to heal within a week. It's not going to feel better for four weeks after he quits playing. But he can play through it."