Sean Murphy goes 3-for-4, hits first home run

Cruz struck out against Justin Verlander in his lone plate appearance prior to exiting the contest. He appeared to suffer the apparent lower-body injury when he went down awkwardly while trying to make a sliding catch in shallow center field in the early stages of the game. There should be an additional update on his status shortly.

Stowers remains out of Miami’s lineup for the second straight contest after experiencing abdominal pain during their previous series in Chicago. It’s challenging to gauge the severity of the issue and whether he’ll be able to come off the bench this weekend. There should be some additional clarity on his status before the season concludes.

It’s a bit perplexing the Marlins basically elected to play with a shortened bench during the final week of the regular season. Edwards is sitting out his sixth consecutive game due to an ongoing left thumb issue on Saturday afternoon. It’ll be rookie Jared Serna drawing another start at second base in his place.

Jung is done for the remainder of the season, and is presumably headed to the injured list, after suffering a fractured right hand when he was hit by a pitch during Friday’s game against Minnesota. It’ll be Alejandro Osuna getting into the lineup at DH with Ezequiel Duran taking over at the hot corner.

Max Muncy is also taking a seat with lefty Matt Wilkinson serving as San Francisco’s opener. It appears to be a routine off day for Freeman, who missed time with a right knee issue a couple weeks ago. The 37-year-old veteran has already played 152 games this season, hitting .290/.364/.432 with 74 runs scored, 16 homers, 70 RBI and seven steals in 654 plate appearances. It’ll be Enrique Hernández and Miguel Rojas at the infield corners in this one.

Romo returns to the big leagues for the first time in nearly a month with veteran Jake Rogers away from the club on paternity leave. The 25-year-old backstop hit .141 (25-for-177) with seven homers and one steal in 60 games for the White Sox earlier this season.

Rogers will miss Chicago’s final two regular-season contests while on paternity leave. He should make it back in time for the start of the postseason next week.

Scherzer told the media that he will make a decision regarding his future in the offseason before adding that he wanted to pitch in front of his family in the Rogers Centre one final time in case he decides to hang up his spikes after 19 seasons in the big leagues. The 42-year-old Future Hall of Fame starter finds himself just a handful of strikeouts behind former Tigers teammate Justin Verlander on the all-time strikeout list heading into what could potentially be the final outing of his remarkable career.

Basabe is sitting out his straight game with left hamstring tightness. It’ll be Shay Whitcomb taking over at the hot corner in his place.

Curry passed through waivers unclaimed after being designated for assignment earlier this week. The 28-year-old righty will become a minor league free agent in a couple weeks after posting a respectable 5.48 ERA across 21 1/3 innings in the majors this season.