Miguel Vargas homers, steals base in victory

Gasper has been an unexpected revelation for the Red Sox, launching nine homers in 205 plate appearances. He’ll head to the bench with lefty-masher Jahmai Jones getting a chance to face Texas southpaw MacKenzie Gore in this one.

Pederson receives some extra time off with lefty Jake Bennett taking the ball for Boston in this one. The 34-year-old slugger is attempting to play through a small fracture in his left hand for the rest of the season. He figures to be back in the lineup to face veteran Sonny Gray during Thursday’s series finale.

The major concern here is that any sort of oblique issue would be season-ending. Báez went 0-for-4 at the dish before being removed from the contest in the 10th inning. The 23-year-old top prospect’s all-or-nothing offensive approach has resulted in a respectable .230 batting average with seven homers, 18 RBI and two steals through 29 games. He’s also struck out 33 times in 100 at-bats. He’ll undergo further evaluation to determine whether he’ll require a trip to the injured list.

Harrison gave up four runs and failed to record an out while pitching in relief against the Reds last weekend. It’s extremely challenging to trust him for fantasy purposes given his recent results and the fact that Milwaukee isn’t going to let him work too deep into games at this stage of the season. However, he offers enough strikeout upside to be worth the risk in deeper formats.

It remains a mystery shrouded in an enigma in terms of what type of role the Dodgers have planned for Bubic as he returns to the big leagues for the first time since mid-May. The 29-year-old impending free agent came over from the Royals at the trade deadline and figures to operate out of the Dodgers’ bullpen in the postseason. He can be safely ignored for fantasy purposes.

Gervase didn’t wind up making an appearance for Los Angeles after being brought back to the majors earlier this week. The towering 26-year-old has given up two runs over 7 2/3 innings at the highest level this season.

Ward is finally free from Los Angeles’ corner outfield and DH logjam after spending the last few years tearing the cover off the ball at Triple-A Oklahoma City. The 28-year-old figures to attract plenty of interest on waivers and should benefit exponentially from a change of scenery. It’ll be interesting to see where he winds up from a fantasy standpoint.

Not good. Judge was lifted for a pinch-hitter during the sixth inning of Wednesday’s series finale at Target Field after going 0-for-2 with a pair of strikeouts. He appeared visibly uncomfortable following an awkward check swing during his final plate appearance. It sounds like his early departure was out of an abundance of caution since the Yankees can’t afford to take any chances with his availability for the postseason. The lone encouraging takeaway is that the issue doesn’t appear to be related to his previous rib issue. He’ll undergo further evaluation, and possibly imaging as well, to determine the severity of the issue. There should be additional clarity on his status leading into Friday’s series opener against the Diamondbacks.

Pratt is back at shortstop and hitting ninth following a one-game absence due to illness. The 22-year-old rookie has held his own at the highest level this season, slashing .273/.341/.369 with 31 runs scored, three homers, 30 RBI and 13 steals in 232 plate appearances over 64 games.

The encouraging development here is that X-rays came back negative for any fractures after Montgomery was hit by a pitch during Wednesday’s critical showdown in Cleveland. The 24-year-old shortstop is presumably day-to-day heading into Thursday’s series opener against the Tigers. It wouldn’t be surprising if he needed a couple days off to rest and recover.