Yost has no grudge against Brewers

A day after being abruptly fired as Milwaukee's manager and replaced by third-base coach Dale Sveum, Ned Yost insisted yesterday he had no hard feelings toward the team that let him go with 12 games left while tied for the NL wild-card lead. "If anybody thinks that I've got sour grapes or I don't want this club to succeed, they're crazy. I'll be rooting them every inch of the way and I hope they can win that wild card and go deep, deep into the playoffs and win the World Series," he said. Yost said he had no idea he was about to be fired when he went into general manager Doug Melvin's room in the team hotel in Chicago and saw principal owner Mark Attanasio. "When I walked in, I hadn't even sat down on the couch and Doug said, 'We're going to make a change,' " Yost said.

Former Red Sox pitcher Luis Tiant was among a group of 10 former major league players whose careers began in 1943 or later to be placed on the latest Hall of Fame ballot for Veterans Committee voters. Also on the list are Joe Torre, Ron Santo, Gil Hodges, Dick Allen, Jim Kaat, Tony Oliva, Al Oliver, Vada Pinson, and Maury Wills. A player needs 75 percent to be elected - the 64 living Hall members will vote . . . Phillies lefthander J.A. Happ will start in place of Kyle Kendrick in tonight's game at Atlanta. Kendrick (11-9) allowed seven runs and six hits in 1 1/3 innings in a 10-8 loss to the Marlins Sept. 9 . . . Indians pitcher Anthony Reyes is done for the season because of a tender right elbow . . . Brewers reliever David Riske is out for the season and will undergo surgery next Tuesday to have a bone spur removed from his right elbow . . . Mariners pitcher Erik Bedard (6-5, 3.67), out since July with a tight left shoulder, will undergo arthroscopic surgery Friday to remove tissue from the labrum . . . The Rockies have shut down lefthander Jeff Francis as a precaution. Francis had been on the 15-day disabled list June 29-Aug. 6 with left shoulder inflammation.

Doubles star Bob Bryan will miss this weekend's Davis Cup semifinal against Spain in Madrid because of a shoulder injury and was replaced on the US team by Mardy Fish. Bryan's withdrawal follows that of James Blake, who pulled out last week citing exhaustion, making way for 39th-ranked Sam Querrey. Bryan is recovering after receiving a cortisone shot for an inflamed left shoulder that has bothered him since Wimbledon. The five-match series begins Friday with two singles matches, followed by doubles Saturday and reverse singles Sunday . . . Dominika Cibulkova rallied to defeat former world No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo, 0-6, 6-1, 7-6 (8-6), in the first round of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo . . . Roger Federer's part-time coach, Jose Higueras, was hired by the US Tennis Association as director of coaching for elite player development, a program that aims to identify future champions.

Michelle Wie shot a 2-under-par 70 - four strokes behind leader Sun-Ju Ahn of South Korea - in the opening round of the LPGA sectional qualifying tournament in Rancho Mirage, Calif., leaving the Hawaiian in solid position in the 164-player field. The 18-year-old Wie made her debut in the qualifying process with five birdies and three bogeys at Mission Hills Country Club. After the 72-hole event, the low 30 players and ties will advance to the final qualifying stage in December . . . Brian Higgins of Franklin CC fired a 3-under 69 for a two-round total of 142 to take a two-shot lead into the final round of the Massachusetts Mid-Amateur Championship at Berkshire Hills CC in Pittsfield. Phillip Smith (69) of Vesper, Steve Tasho (70) of Thorny Lea, and Kim Mertes (72) of Wyckoff CC stand at 144.

Carolina Hurricanes captain Rod Brind'Amour underwent surgery to remove torn cartilage from his left knee, but is expected to be ready for the start of the NHL regular season . . . Defenseman Mathieu Schneider, who has played on seven teams over his 20-year NHL career, was placed on waivers by the Ducks. If Schneider clears waivers, he'll remain the property of the Ducks. He had 12 goals and 27 assists in 65 games last season . . . Jonathan Roy, son of Hall of Fame goaltender Patrick Roy, pleaded not guilty to assault in Saguenay, Quebec, for his attack on a player last March during a game in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Roy, a goalie with the Quebec Remparts, skated the length of the ice and attacked goalie Bobby Nadeau in a playoff game against the Chicoutimi Sagueneens. Nadeau says he didn't retaliate because his coach told him never to fight.

South African Oscar Pistorius completed his gold medal haul at the Paralympics in Beijing, winning the 400 meters to go with sprint victories in the 100 and 200. The double amputee finished in 47.49 seconds, a world record for his disability class . . . Olympic swimmer Brendan Hansen lost his gold medal from the Beijing Games during a flight Sunday, but got it back a day later. The breaststroke specialist was on a flight from Philadelphia to Austin, Texas, when the medal he won in the 400-medley apparently fell from his backpack when he was changing seats. A woman found the medal on the floor of the plane and contacted police. Hansen met the woman in Austin and gave her a check, which she said she would donate to charity . . . In one of the biggest upsets in soccer's Champions League history, Romanian team CFR Cluj upset Italian Serie A power AS Roma, 2-1 . . . Fredquinzo King, a third defendant in the 2007 beating death of former Villanova basketball star Howard Porter, pleaded guilty a day before his trial was to start in Minneapolis. King pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder and one count of kidnapping and awaits sentencing Oct. 13.