Brewers only half-game back
Christian Yelich homered and drove in six runs, and the visiting Brewers walloped the Cardinals 12-4 on Tuesday to close to a half-game of the Cubs in the battle for first place in the National League Central.
Yelich had a three-run triple in the fourth inning and a three-run homer in the ninth for the Brewers, who also got two homers from Ryan Braun and another from Jesus Aguilar and lead the NL wildcard standings by 3½ games over the Rockies.
Yadier Molina hit a three-run homer for the Cardinals, who fell a half-game behind the Rockies in the fight for the second NL wild-card spot.
Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani has decided to undergo Tommy John surgery and will have the procedure next week, the team announced. He won’t be able to pitch in 2019, but he likely will be able to hit at some point early next season.
Ohtani, 24, entered play Tuesday hitting .280 with 21 homers and 56 RBI. As a pitcher, he was 4-2 with a 3.31 ERA and 63 strikeouts in 51‰ innings.
Nationals right-hander Max Scherzer (18-7) became the 17th major-league pitcher since 1900 to strike out 300 batters in a season when he fanned the Marlins’ Austin Dean in the seventh inning of a 9-4 victory in Washington.
Prosecutors dropped a domestic-assault charge against Astros closer Roberto Osuna stemming from an incident in May, when he was playing for the Blue Jays. In exchange, Osuna agreed to stay away from the alleged victim for a year and continue counseling.
Mets assistant general manager John Ricco said he expects first-year manager Mickey Callaway to be back in 2019 despite the team’s disappointing record this season (73-84).
Knights, Theodore strike seven-year deal
Golden Knights defenseman Shea Theodore, 23, ended his holdout by agreeing to terms on a sevenyear contract that runs through the 2024-25 season and has an average annual value of $5.2 million.