Cubs rule Brown out for season
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CHICAGO -- The Chicago Cubs have shut down right-hander Ben Brown for the rest of the season so he can fully heal from a stress reaction in his neck that has sidelined him since mid-June.
The 26-year-old Brown is 4-2 with a 1.85 ERA in 20 games this season, including his final eight as a starter after Chicago's rotation was depleted by injuries. After shifting to a starting role, Brown was 3-1 with a 1.70 ERA.
The stress reaction flared after Brown tossed six innings and allowed two runs in a 16-2 win over Toronto on June 19 and he was placed on the IL. The same painful condition caused Brown to miss significant time in 2024.
Brown attempted to come back this season, but experienced discomfort during a throwing session on Aug. 25. That scuttled plans to send him on a minor-league rehab assignment and led to additional medical consultation and imaging.
"This is a bone injury," manager Craig Counsell said before Thursday's game against Milwaukee at Wrigley Field. "There's a healing, but just not enough to allow the discomfort to go away. So we just need to spend more time healing.
"In the case of bones, you just need to let them rest and some bones can heal slower."
Counsell was optimistic Brown would be "a healthy player" in time for spring training.
Over three major league seasons with the Cubs, Brown is 10-13 with a 4.15 ERA and two saves in 60 games, including 31 starts.
Rutschman homers
BALTIMORE -- Adley Rutschman homered in his first at-bat in his return to Camden Yards, hitting a drive to right field for the Boston Red Sox in the top of the first inning at Baltimore on Thursday night.
Rutschman received a standing ovation from the crowd -- and from the Baltimore dugout -- when he came to the plate with two outs in the first. Then he slugged a 1-1 pitch from Brandon Young over the wall in right field. It was his 10th homer of the season and second since being traded from the Orioles to the Red Sox in early August.
Rutschman also received a video tribute between the first and second innings, and he got another big ovation despite having already done some damage offensively for his new team.
"A lot of memories, a lot of positive experiences. The people in Baltimore have always treated me with an unbelievable amount of respect and love, and I've always felt that when I've been here," Rutschman said before the game. "So just a huge thank you from the bottom of my heart."
Rutschman has battled elbow issues of late, but he was back in the lineup after missing the previous three games.
"It's a lot of feelings going on. Different being over on this side," he said. "A lot of memories, a lot of positive memories."
Baltimore drafted Rutschman No. 1 overall in 2019. His arrival in the major leagues in 2022 was part of a significant turnaround in which the Orioles ultimately won the AL East in 2023.