RYAN LAVARNWAY

Lorenzo Cain hit a grand slam to cap a six-run fifth inning, Eduardo Escobar homered from both sides of the plate and the Milwaukee Brewers moved closer to the NL Central title, beating the Cleveland Indians 10-3 on Friday night. Milwaukee’s magic number to win the division is nine and the Brewers (87-55) are 32 games over .500 for the first time in franchise history. Cain’s home run off reliever Sam Hentges was his third career grand slam and gave Milwaukee a 9-1 lead.

Yuki Yanagita tied it with an RBI grounder off Scott McGough in the ninth inning, Takuya Kai hit a winning single against Edwin Jackson in the 10th and Japan beat the United States 7-6 Monday night to reach the Olympic semifinals.

Israel’s pitcher Jeremy Bleich hit two consecutive batsman, the second with the bases loaded, to drive home the winning run, giving South Korea a 6-5 win in 10 innings.

While most Olympic events are a competition among the best, the better you are in baseball, the less of a chance you have of playing for gold.