MILWAUKEE (AP) – St. Louis right-hander Jason Motte will have season-ending Tommy John surgery next week.  The nominal closer for the Cardinals was placed on the disabled list on March 29, and eventually diagnosed with a torn ligament in his right elbow. He had been rehabbing and playing catch in an effort to avoid surgery but on Friday, a throwing session resulted in discomfort and it was decided that Motte would have the ligament replacement operation.

Motte emerged as the Cardinals’ closer late in the 2011 season, throwing eight scoreless innings with four saves against Philadelphia and Milwaukee in the NLDS and NLCS, respectively before going 0-1 with a 6.23 ERA during the World Series.

MILWAUKEE (AP) – The St. Louis Cardinals have run out of patience with Mitchell Boggs, demoting the reliever saddled with a 12.66 ERA to Triple-A Memphis on Friday.  Boggs, who began the year as the stand-in closer for injured Jason Motte, walked both batters he faced in the seventh inning of a 6-5 victory at Milwaukee on Thursday night and has allowed 17 hits and 10 walks in 10 2/3 innings.

First baseman Matt Adams was sent on a rehab assignment and could return from a right oblique injury next week. The Cardinals purchased the contract of 21-year-old right-hander Carlos Martinez from Double-A Springfield where he was 1-0 with a 2.31 ERA in three starts.

w/ Jim Field

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs released four players Thursday, including quarterback Alex Tanney, who gained acclaim when a Youtube video showing him making a series of tricky throws went viral. Tanney spent time on the Chiefs’ practice squad but never made the active roster. The Chiefs also released fullback Patrick DiMarco, linebacker Cory Greenwood and offensive lineman Bryan Mattison.

DiMarco started four of the five games he played in last season, but was made expendable when the Chiefs drafted fullback Braden Wilson last weekend and then traded cornerback Javier Arenas to the Arizona Cardinals for another fullback, Anthony Sherman. Greenwood played 48 games for the Chiefs over the past three seasons, primarily on special teams, while Mattison played 19 games over three seasons in Kansas City, St. Louis and Baltimore.

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Al Harris didn’t know how a ceremonial retirement was supposed to work. All that mattered to the Green Bay Packers two-time Pro Bowl cornerback was that he was able to say he retired as a Packer, which he did Thursday.

Harris, now an assistant coach with the Kansas City Chiefs, said he came up with the idea the day he announced his NFL retirement in December 2011, while playing for the St. Louis Rams. He spent 14 seasons in the NFL and was a fan favorite in Green Bay.

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Jake Westbrook allowed one run over six innings for his 100th career win and the St. Louis Cardinals held off the Milwaukee Brewers 6-5 on Thursday night. Westbrook (2-1), came in with a 0.98 ERA, best in the majors — it increased to 1.10. In his 12th season, he walked three and struck out four. The Brewers were 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position against him. Westbrook allowed Norichika Aoki’s double to open the game and then nothing more until one out in the fourth when the Brewers pushed across a run on three consecutive singles. He struck out Alex Gonzalez and then fanned Wily Peralta (2-2), his third strikeout of the inning. Westbrook left with a 6-1 lead for the relievers to protect, but the Brewers scored twice in the seventh, one in the eighth and one in the ninth.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa men’s basketball team has ditched Alaska in favor of the Bahamas. The Hawkeyes announced Thursday that they’ve pulled out of the Great Alaska Shootout and will instead play in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament on Paradise Island in the Bahamas from Nov. 28-30.

The move should add strength to Iowa’s non-conference schedule. The field for the Bahamas also includes Kansas, Tennessee, Villanova, USC, Wake Forest, UTEP and Xavier. The Great Alaska Shootout brackets are filled mostly with mid-major programs like Indiana State and Pepperdine.

The Hawkeyes hurt their NCAA tournament chances last season by playing a soft non-conference slate. But Iowa will play at Iowa State, host an undetermined ACC school and play in the more prestigious Bahamas tourney next year.