Kelly went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Friday's 11-3 win over the Cardinals.

Kelly hit one of eight Chicago home runs on the afternoon, which included three from Michael Busch and two from Pete Crow-Armstrong. The veteran catcher now has 10 long balls this season, and he's been hot recently, recording a .407 batting average and 1.152 OPS over his last 10 games. Kelly should remain the Cubs' top backstop moving forward, though he'll receive competition for playing time when Miguel Amaya (oblique) returns from the injured list, which is expected sometime around the All-Star break,

Smith went 2-for-2 with a solo home run and two walks in Friday's 18-1 loss to the Astros.

Smith was the only Dodger to put together a successful effort at the plate against Houston's pitching duo of Lance McCullers and Jason Alexander. It's been a strong stretch of late for Smith, who has gone 14-for-37 (.378) with six homers and seven RBI over his last 12 games. The catcher is at a .330/.433/.564 slash line with 12 homers, 45 RBI, 44 runs scored, two stolen bases, 15 doubles and one triple over 69 contests.

Manager Bob Melvin said Thursday that Murphy (back) is still rehabbing and there's no clear timeline for his return, per MLB.com.

Murphy was placed on the 60-day injured list March 26 due to a mid-back disc herniation that was diagnosed near the end of February and isn't expected to return before the All-Star break. The 34-year-old signed a two-year, $8 million deal with the club in December 2023 but missed the majority of the 2024 campaign due to a sprained MCL in his left knee, slashing .118/.211/.235 with three runs scored, two RBI and one home run across just 38 plate appearances.

The Nationals optioned Millas to Triple-A Rochester on Friday.

The 27-year-old will head back to Rochester since Keibert Ruiz has recovered from his concussion. Millas appeared in three games during his week-plus in the majors and went 1-for-7 with a double, an RBI and two runs.

The Nationals reinstated Ruiz (concussion) from the 7-day injured list Friday.

The 26-year-old landed on the concussion IL on June 24 after being struck by a foul ball while in the dugout, but he's back on the active roster after missing little more than a week. Prior to the injury, Ruiz was scuffling at the plate through 15 games in June with a .167/.164/.204 slash line and just two extra-base hits.

Porter was designated for assignment Thursday, Shayna Rubin of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Porter made his Giants debut June 11 but was sent back to Triple-A Sacramento six days later. He'll now lose his spot on the 40-man roster, with Sergio Alcantara taking his place.

Bailey is not in Thursday's lineup against the Diamondbacks.

Bailey has started four straight games behind the plate, going 3-for-12 with four RBI in that span. He'll get a routine day off Thursday, with Andrew Knizner taking over behind the plate.

Smith is not in the Dodgers' lineup against the White Sox on Thursday.

Smith will get some rest during Thursday's rubber match against the White Sox after going 3-for-5 with a home run and three walks in the first two games of the series. Dalton Rushing has the start behind the plate and is batting eighth.

Kelly isn't in the lineup for Thursday's game against the Guardians.

Kelly has been on fire since late June, going 8-for-19 with four RBI and two runs scored across his last seven games. He'll step out of the starting nine Thursday, however, allowing Reese McGuire to start behind the dish and bat ninth.

Baldwin is not in the lineup for Thursday's game against the Angels.

Baldwin started the first game of the series Monday but has now sat out each of the next two contests in favor of Sean Murphy. Murphy has started over Baldwin in four of the last five tilts, although Atlanta is facing a righty in Jose Soriano on Thursday for the first time during that span.