Aug 12, 2022 4 min read

Houston Astros outfielder Michael Brantley will miss the rest of the season after having surgery on his right shoulder this week.

The 35-year-old Brantley hasn’t played in a big league game since June 26. He hit .288 with five homers and 26 RBIs in 64 games in the final season of a $32 million, two-year contract.

“There were a lot of different avenues that were taken to try to get Michael back on the field in time for the end of the season,” general manager James Click said Friday, “and ultimately, after consultation with our trainers and doctors, we ultimately came to the conclusion that this was the right path for him long-term for his health.”

Brantley had surgery on Wednesday.

The loss of the sweet-swinging Brantley is a big blow for AL West-leading Houston. The five-time All-Star is a .298 hitter with 127 homers and 713 RBIs in 1,430 regular-season games.

Brantley also has enjoyed postseason success, batting .319 with nine RBIs during the Astros’ run to the World Series last year.

“He tried hard to get back,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said. “He got a number of opinions, he got a couple of procedural things – it just didn’t work. Michael’s a big part of this club, not only on the field, but in the clubhouse and dugout and on the planes. He’s not called ‘Uncle Mike’ for nothing.”

Aledmys Díaz was in left field for Friday night’s series opener against last-place Oakland. Chas McCormick and Yordan Alvarez also have started in left for the Astros this year.

Trey Mancini, who was acquired from Baltimore as part of a three-team trade on Aug. 1, also could be an option. Click said Astros third base coach Gary Pettis has been working with Mancini to prepare him to more regularly play in the outfield.

American League

Cleveland 8, Toronto 0: Canadians Cal Quantrill and Josh Naylor crossed the border and led the Cleveland Guardians to an 8-0 rout of the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night.

Quantrill pitched seven shutout innings and won his fifth straight decision, and Naylor hit a two-run home run as the surging Guardians won their sixth straight.

On Sitcom Night in Toronto, there was little for a big crowd of 41,677 to laugh at. Cleveland’s José Ramirez hit a three-run home run, his 22nd, and finished with four RBIs as the Guardians roughed up Blue Jays right-hander José Berríos.

Toronto has lost three straight and six of eight.

Quantrill, whose father Paul pitched for the Blue Jays, is from Port Hope, about 60 miles east of Toronto on the shores of Lake Ontario. Naylor is from Mississauga, the city immediately west of Toronto.

Quantrill (9-5) allowed one hit, walked none and struck out seven. The AL Central leaders have won each of Quantrill’s last seven starts.

National League

Field of Dreams ratings: More than 3.1 million viewers watched Fox Sports’ broadcast of Major League Baseball’s second “Field of Dreams” game, about half of the audience for the 2021 game.

The Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds 4-2 on Thursday night at a throwback ballpark in eastern Iowa, a short walk from the main field for the 1989 movie.

Fox Sports said Friday it was the most-watched regular-season baseball game on any network this year. The audience peaked at 3,464,000 views from 8:15 to 8:30 p.m. EDT.

The 2021 game, a wild 9-8 victory for the Chicago White Sox against the New York Yankees, attracted nearly 6 million viewers in what MLB said was the most-watched regular-season game on any network since 1998.

Mets lose 2 to injury: New York Mets infielders Jeff McNeil and Eduardo Escobar left Friday’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies with injuries.

The Mets said McNeil had a right thumb laceration and Escobar suffered tightness in his left side that will require an MRI.

McNeil tried to duck under the tag of Philadelphia’s Rhys Hoskins on a grounder in the second inning, and his head collided with the first baseman’s knee.

Escobar had two balls carom off his glove at third for infield hits.