Gattis likely to miss entire Rangers series

ARLINGTON -- Evan Gattis missed his fifth straight game on Saturday, as he continued to recover from a bout of strep throat. The Braves' catcher is likely to miss Sunday's series finale against the Rangers, as well.

"I don't think we're going to see him this series at all," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "His symptoms are still there. We'll just take it day by day."

Gattis was hoping to return at some point this weekend, with the Braves wrapping up their 10-day, nine-game road trip with a three-game series against the Rangers. He saw a doctor on Saturday afternoon, but remained unlikely to play on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Jason Heyward was taken out of the leadoff spot in a late lineup shift before the Braves' 3-2 loss to the Rangers on Saturday. He was initially penciled into the No. 1 spot, but Gonzalez moved him from first to fifth in the lineup about 45 minutes before first pitch. A career .282 hitter as a leadoff man, Heyward entered Saturday batting .270 in the leadoff spot this season while hitting .291 when batting fifth.

He was replaced in the leadoff spot by Emilio Bonifacio, who was originally batting ninth. Christian Bethancourt started at catcher for the fourth consecutive contest and batted sixth. Rookie second baseman Tommy La Stella batted seventh, while making his first career start as a designated hitter.

Gattis, who attended Bishop Lynch High School in Dallas, is batting .270 with 22 home runs -- second-most among Major League catchers -- and 52 RBIs in 102 games this season.