Dusty Baker leaves Nationals after death in family

Manager Dusty Baker was not with the Washington Nationals when they close their three-game series against the New York Mets on Wednesday because of a death in the family.

Bench coach Chris Speier will manage the team in Baker’s absence.

The Nationals say Baker is expected to rejoin the team on Friday night for its series opener with the Atlanta Braves.

On Tuesday, the Mets pulled within nine games of Washington in the NL East and remained a half-game ahead of St. Louis in the NL wild-card race.

Braves trade for two pitchers

The Atlanta Braves have acquired veteran right-handers Josh Collmenter and Joe Wieland in deals with the Chicago Cubs and Seattle Mariners. The Braves need pitching depth after recent injuries to Williams Perez and Mike Foltynewicz.

The 30-year-old Collmenter was acquired for cash considerations and could start Saturday against Washington. Collmenter is 36-33 with a 3.54 ERA in 200 career major league games with Arizona. He was released by Arizona on Aug. 7. He signed a minor league deal with the Cubs on Aug. 10 and had a 2.25 ERA in four starts with Triple-A Iowa.

Atlanta will send cash or a player to be named later to Seattle for Wieland, who will report to Triple-A Gwinnett. The 26-year-old Wieland has a 6.37 ERA in his major league career with San Diego, the Dodgers and Seattle.

Etc.

Yankees rookie right fielder Aaron Judge is likely done for the regular season because of a strained oblique. Judge strained his right side Tuesday night taking a swing for the AL playoff contenders during a 3-0 win over the Dodgers. The 6-foot-7 Judge was hitting .179 with four home runs and 10 RBIs, while striking out 42 times in 84 at-bats. …

Former Boston Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington has been hired by the Toronto Blue Jays as vice president of baseball operations.