CHICAGO — The Milwaukee Brewers were bracing for the possibility that Christian Yelich misses significant time after placing the All-Star outfielder on the 10-day injured list Wednesday because of inflammation in his lower back.
Yelich is scheduled to see a spine specialist on Thursday to figure out his next steps, including whether he needs season-ending surgery.
“Everybody plays through stuff, but sometimes, you just can’t,” he said. “That’s kind of where we’re at at this point. Your body won’t cooperate with you. For me, aside from when I broke my knee, this has been the one thing that I’ve had to deal with. It’s frustrating. I’ve dealt with it a lot during my career.”
Yelich’s back has been bothering him for weeks and worsened in recent days. The move to the injured list comes one day after he exited a game against the Chicago Cubs.
“He’s been an offensive machine, the attitude he brings,” Manager Pat Murphy said. “He tried like heck to play injured for a while. Hopefully, we can get him back.”
Yelich, 32, has enjoyed a resurgent season for the NL Central-leading Brewers. He earned his third All-Star Game appearance and leads the NL in batting average (.315) and on-base percentage (.406). He also has 11 homers, 42 RBI and 21 steals in 73 games.
But he has gone 0 for 9 since the All-Star break and is 1 for 19 over his last six games. He was 0 for 1 with two walks in a 1-0 victory over the Cubs on Tuesday before getting removed for a pinch hitter in the eighth inning.
“I was doing nobody any good out there,” Yelich said. “I kind of just decided that there were big at-bats late in the game, I was definitely not the right person to do that. Being stubborn and going out there wasn’t gonna do anybody any good.”
The Brewers also reinstated catcher Gary Sánchez from the IL. He had been out for a month because of a calf strain.
ANGELS: Mike Trout is leaving his minor league rehab assignment after one game to be re-evaluated in Southern California.
Trout began a rehab stint Tuesday with Triple-A Salt Lake but exited after just two innings because of soreness in his surgically repaired left knee.
Angels Manager Ron Washington said Wednesday that Trout reported he was feeling better, and the Angels hoped he would be able to serve as the designated hitter for Salt Lake on Wednesday night. But later in the day, the Angels announced that Trout would not be in the lineup.
METS: Rookie Christian Scott won’t throw for two weeks but is expected to pitch again this season after an MRI of his ailing right elbow did not show a severe injury.
A 25-year-old right-hander who made his major league debut on May 4, Scott has a sprained ulnar collateral ligament.
WEDNESDAY’S GAME
TWINS 5, PHILLIES 4: Max Kepler’s infield single drove in the winning run with one out in the ninth inning, giving Minnesota a win over visiting Philadelphia.
Trevor Larnach was hit by a pitch by Philadelphia left-hander Gregory Soto (2-4) to open the bottom of the ninth. Larnach advanced to second on a wild pitch and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Austin Martin. Kepler hit a two-hopper up the middle against a drawn-in infield that was backhanded by diving second baseman Bryson Stott, who had no chance to get Larnach at home or Kepler at first.
BREWERS 3, CUBS 2: William Contreras hit a tiebreaking double in the ninth inning, and Milwaukee won at Chicago.
Blake Perkins singled leading off the ninth against Héctor Neris (8-3). Contreras put Milwaukee on top one out later when he lined a double to left-center.
REDS 9, BRAVES 4: Spencer Steer drove in three runs with three extra-base hits, Elly De La Cruz also had three hits, including a home run, and Cincinnati won the first game of what was supposed to be a split doubleheader in Atlanta.
The second game was postponed because of inclement weather and was rescheduled for Sept. 9.
Steer drove in a run with a first-inning triple off Allan Winans (0-2) and had a two-run double in the fourth.
Jake Fraley also had three hits, including a two-run homer in the first.
PIRATES 5, CARDINALS 0: Martín Pérez pitched six scoreless innings, Rowdy Tellez homered into the Allegheny River, and Pittsburgh won at home.
Pérez (2-5) allowed four hits – three in his final two innings – and walked five with two strikeouts.
ASTROS 8, ATHLETICS 1: Hunter Brown struck out eight in six innings, helping Houston win at Oakland, California.
Chas McCormick homered for the first time in more than a month and Jose Altuve had three hits and two RBI as the Astros bounced back to win the last game of the series after losing the first two in likely their final regular-season trip to the Coliseum.
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