Yankees activate Chapman from DL
NEW YORK » Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman has been activated from the disabled list.
New York announced the move Wednesday before the second game of a three-game series against the AL East-leading Boston Red Sox.
Chapman has been out since Aug. 21 with left knee tendinitis. The All-Star left-hander threw a simulated game Monday and said Tuesday that he had recovered well.
He will be available out of the bullpen Wednesday night. New York is trying to prevent Boston from clinching the division at Yankee Stadium for the second time in three years. The Red Sox can clinch with one victory.
The hard-throwing Chapman has 31 saves and a 2.11 ERA in 50 appearances this season.
Red Sox fans find title banner in street
SOMERVILLE, MASS. »The Boston Red Sox have not clinched this year’s American League East division championship, but a banner marking the accomplishment has already been accidentally unveiled.
Boston-area friends Louie Iacuzzi, James Amaral and Randy Baldasarri say they found the banner on a road Monday morning after it apparently fell off a delivery truck in Somerville, Massachusetts.
But the trio held onto the banner for two days, hoping they’d be rewarded with game tickets or a chance to meet their favorite players.
Instead, the Boston Globe reports , the men brought the banner to Fenway Park Wednesday afternoon and returned empty handed.
Iacuzzi said he always intended to return the banner and rejected accusations he stole it.
The team can clinch the division if they defeat the Yankees Wednesday night.
Mets shut down Wheeler
PHILADELPHIA » The New York Mets are shutting down righthander Zack Wheeler for the rest of the season as a precaution, ending a career-best year in which he logged nearly 100 more innings than 2017.
Manager Mickey Callaway said before Wednesday night’s game at Philadelphia that they’d be “probably taking the best care of him” by holding him out of his final two starts.
“I feel like I had a good season,” Wheeler said. “I would have liked to have finished it out, but getting 100 more innings than last season without doing that much the past 2½ years, I think it makes sense to kind of shut it down and not really push it.”
Wheeler missed two full seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2015. He returned last season and was 3-7 with a 5.21 ERA in 17 starts. After beginning this season in Triple-A following a difficult spring training, Wheeler was called up in April and went 12-7 with a 3.31 ERA in 29 starts while throwing 182 1/3 innings.
“He always knew he could be this guy. But when you’re actually that guy it kind of opens your eyes to, OK, I’ve got this and I’m going to move forward with it,” Callaway said. “So hopefully this is a big stepping stone for him in his career.”
The 28-year-old Wheeler was dominant after the All-Star break, going 9-1 with a 1.68 ERA and solidifying his hold as the No. 3 starter behind Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard.
Braves reduce magic number to six
ATLANTA » Freddie Freeman hit a two-run homer and drove in three runs, Touki Toussaint pitched into the sixth inning and the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves snapped a four-game skid with a 7-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday.
It was a big win for Atlanta, which began the day with a 5½game lead over Philadelphia and opens a four-game home series against the Phillies on Thursday.
The Braves need any combination of six victories or Philadelphia losses to clinch their first division title since 2013.