PITTSBURGH — Theo Epstein says he has no plans of returning to the Boston Red Sox.
Speculation in Boston has centered on Epstein possibly replacing Dave Dombrowski, who was fired Sept. 8 as the president of baseball operations for the Red Sox. Epstein is finishing his eighth season as the Chicago Cubs’ president of baseball operations.
“There is nothing to the story,” Epstein said Wednesday night before the Cubs played the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Epstein oversaw Boston’s baseball operations for eight seasons from 2003-10 before leaving to join the Cubs. The Red Sox won the World Series in 2004, their first title since 1918, then won again in 2007.
“I have a lot of great relationships with people who work for the Red Sox and I wish them the very best but there is nothing more to it,” Epstein said.
TWINS: Reliever Sam Dyson had surgery on his shoulder, ending the right-hander’s season and potentially putting 2020 in jeopardy as well.
Dyson had the capsule repair operation in California. Manager Rocco Baldelli said the timeline isn’t firm, but it could be a year before he can pitch in a game again.
ROYALS: Shortstop Adalberto Mondesi will have surgery to repair the left shoulder he injured over the weekend, though the club hopes its budding star will be ready by opening day next season.
Mondesi hit .263 with nine homers and 62 RBI to go with 20 doubles, 10 triples and 43 stolen bases. But he was limited to just 102 games after sustaining a subluxation to his shoulder in July, then hurting it again in Sunday’s loss to the Minnesota Twins.
PHILLIES: Catcher J.T. Realmuto will miss the remainder of the season with a right knee injury.
Manager Gabe Kapler said Realmuto returned to Philadelphia and will undergo a “meniscus cleanup” on Friday.
CARDINALS: Starter Michael Wacha left Wednesday’s game against the Arizona Diamondbacks with right shoulder tightness.
PIRATES: Pitcher Felipe Vazquez has been ordered held without bond following his arrest on multiple felony charges including sexual assault of a minor.
Vazquez was taken into custody last week by Pennsylvania State Police on an arrest warrant from Florida stemming from illicit electronic communication with an underage girl. State police say he told investigators he attempted to have sex with the girl during a meeting at her house in 2017.
Vazquez was charged with statutory sexual assault, unlawful contact with a minor and corruption of minors, all felonies, and a misdemeanor count of indecent assault of a person under 16 years old.
Westmoreland County District Judge Charles Moore denied bond for the 28-year-old Vazquez during a brief hearing.
BRAVES: The Braves shut down Ronald Acuna Jr. for the remainder of the regular season after the All-Star outfielder left their series opener against the Royals with tightness in his left hip.
WEDNESDAY’S GAMES
NATIONAL LEAGUE
DIAMONDBACKS 9, CARDINALS 7: Pinch-hitter Paul Goldschmidt grounded into a game-ending double play with two runners on the base and NL Central-leading St. Louis fell short in a ninth-inning rally at Phoenix.
Errors by rookie infielders Tommy Edman and Edmundo Sosa helped Arizona score seven times in the sixth for a 9-5 lead. Wilmer Flores homered during the burst, which also included a run-scoring wild pitch.
BREWERS 9, REDS 2: The Milwaukee Brewers clinched their second straight postseason appearance with Ryan Braun’s grand slam sparking a win at Cincinnati.
The Brewers have won six in a row and 17 of 19 despite losing MVP Christian Yelich to a broken kneecap, vaulting from also-ran to at least a wild card.
NATIONALS 5, PHILLIES 2: Wilmer Difo drove in the go-ahead run with an RBI single in the seventh inning and Anibal Sanchez pitched seven solid innings as Washington beat visiting Philadelphia.
METS 10, MARLINS 3: Pete Alonso hit his major league-high 51st home run, one short of the rookie record, and Jacob deGrom made his last overpowering pitch for a repeat Cy Young Award as New York routed visiting Miami.
New York was eliminated from the NL wild-card race when Milwaukee secured the league’s final postseason berth by completing a 9-2 victory in Cincinnati as the Mets (83-75) batted in the eighth.
PIRATES 4, CUBS 2: The visiting Chicago Cubs were eliminated from playoff contention shortly before losing their eighth straight game.
Back-to-back wild pitches by David Phelps in the eighth inning enabled Pittsburgh to score the winning run. Just before Phelps’ bout with wildness, Milwaukee clinched the second NL wild card with a 9-2 victory at Cincinnati. The Cubs will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2014.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
TWINS 5, TIGERS 1: Randy Dobnak allowed one hit in six sparkling innings, and Luis Arraez and Eddie Rosario homered to lead Minnesota at Detroit.
Dobnak (2-1) allowed no scoring after an unearned run in the first. Arraez hit a two-run homer in the seventh off Drew VerHagen (4-3), who had combined with Daniel Norris to shut out the Twins until then. Nelson Cruz added an RBI single in the eighth, and Rosario’s two-run shot that inning made it 5-1.
BLUE JAYS 3, ORIOLES 2: Rowdy Tellez hit two solo home runs, Jacob Waguespack pitched six shutout innings and Toronto beat visiting Baltimore.
RAYS 4, YANKEES 0: Charlie Morton and the Tampa Bay bullpen combined on a one-hitter to beat New York.
The Rays swept a two-game series from the 102-win Yankees, holding them to DJ LeMahieu’s soft, clean single to right field with two outs in the sixth inning off Morton (16-6).
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