Jeff McNeil hits seventh homer against Rangers

After starting three consecutive games behind the dish for the White Sox, Teel will get a night off on Thursday. Since returning from the injured list, he has hit .214 (3-for-14) with a pair of homers and four RBI in 15 plate appearances. Jake Rogers will do the catching for the White Sox and bat ninth against Pirates’ right-hander Jared Jones on Thursday evening in Chicago.

Amador has been functioning as the team’s primary second baseman in recent weeks, but he’ll get a breather in this one. Connor Norby will start in his place and will bat second for the Rockies against Yankees’ left-hander Max Fried.

Duran left a splitter up and Smith took it up and out to left-center, homering for the third straight day to give the Astros a 2-1 lead in the ninth inning. That’s one way to respond to a loss of playing time. Smith is now hitting .350/.409/.900 over his last seven games and has hit 20 homers and stolen 10 bases in his age-23 season. Not too shabby even if he hasn’t been an instant star after being included in the Kyle Tucker trade.

He broke up Cristian Javier’s no-hitter in the fifth inning and came around to score on a Bryson Stott fielder’s choice. Arraez is hitting .298/.317/.397 since joining the Phillies with two homers and no stolen bases, but he has managed 15 RBI while mostly hitting out of the four hole.

He got Edmundo Sosa to strike out on three pitches, induced a weak groundout from Kyle Schwarber, then got Trea Turner to ground out to end the game. It’s revenge for a run allowed on Tuesday -- the only run allowed Hader has given up in September or August this year. He should remain locked-and-loaded in lineups as the Astros try to chase down another AL West crown.

It was a splitter that hung in the middle of the plate and Smith took advantage of the location and hammered it. It’s the second loss in three appearances for Duran, who has only allowed a single run each time and even despite that has a 1.69 ERA in his last 15 appearances. He’ll be fine.

He was allowed to pitch out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh and did so by striking out pinch-hitter Yainer Diaz, but the Phillies couldn’t get anything going against Cristian Javier and Wheeler left with the score knotted at one. Wheeler has now reeled off three straight starts of allowing exactly one earned run after his nine-run blowup against the Mariners on August 24. He’s struck out 24 in 19 innings in that stretch. He can be started with confidence against the Nationals next week.

He didn’t allow a hit until the fifth inning and was allowed to face Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner with runners on to finish the sixth. Unfortunately he was facing Zack Wheeler and that tends to make win chances scarce. Javier has now allowed just two runs over his last two starts while striking out 13 in 11 innings, lowering his season ERA from 6.45 to 5.50 in the process. Start of a turnaround? He’ll be on the streaming radar against the Royals next week.

The Yankees will take a cautious approach with the return of their slugger, as he grabs a seat after playing two games against the Rockies on Tuesday and Wednesday. There’s no cause for concern here as the Yankees were always expected to take it easy with Judge’s return.

He could miss the remainder of the season. The Braves will turn to Brewer Hicklen as their lead fourth outfielder for the time being.