NEW YORK (AP) — Washington Nationals slugger Bryce Harper will take on Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman in an all-NL East matchup in the first round of the Home Run Derby on Monday night.The 25-year-old Harper is the second seed at his home ballpark by virtue of his 22 homers through Tuesday's games. Freeman, the top NL vote-getter for Tuesday night's All-Star Game at Nationals Park, is the seventh seed with 16 homers."It should be fun. I'm hoping the fans are excited for him and he gets nervous and gets a zero," Freeman said. "But we'll see what happens."The field was revealed Wednesday night.Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Jesus Aguilar faces Philadelphia Phillies slugger Rhys Hoskins in the opening round. Los Angeles Dodgers infielder Max Muncy meets Chicago Cubs infielder Javier Baez, and Houston Astros third baseman Alex Bregman faces Cubs outfielder Kyle Schwarber.It's the second Home Run Derby for Harper, and the first for the rest of the field. Harper lost to Yoenis... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Washington Nationals slugger Bryce Harper will take on Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman in an all-NL East matchup in the first round of the Home Run Derby on Monday night.The 25-year-old Harper is the second seed at his home ballpark by virtue of his 22 homers through Tuesday's games. Freeman, the top NL vote-getter for Tuesday night's All-Star Game at Nationals Park, is the seventh seed with 16 homers."It should be fun. I'm hoping the fans are excited for him and he gets nervous and gets a zero," Freeman said. "But we'll see what happens."The field was revealed Wednesday night.Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Jesus Aguilar faces Philadelphia Phillies slugger Rhys Hoskins in the opening round. Los Angeles Dodgers rookie Max Muncy meets Chicago Cubs infielder Javier Baez, and Houston Astros third baseman Alex Bregman faces Cubs outfielder Kyle Schwarber.It's the second Home Run Derby for Harper, and the first for the rest of the field. Harper lost to Yoenis Cespedes... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Washington Nationals slugger Bryce Harper will take on Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman in an all-NL East matchup in the first round of the Home Run Derby on Monday night.The 25-year-old Harper is the second seed at his home ballpark by virtue of his 22 homers through Tuesday's games. Freeman, the top NL vote-getter for Tuesday night's All-Star Game at Nationals Park, is the seventh seed with 16 homers.Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Jesus Aguilar faces Philadelphia Phillies slugger Rhys Hoskins in the opening round. Los Angeles Dodgers rookie Max Muncy meets Chicago Cubs infielder Javier Baez, and Houston Astros third baseman Alex Bregman faces Cubs outfielder Kyle Schwarber.It's the second Home Run Derby for Harper, and the first for the rest of the field. Harper lost to Yoenis Cespedes in the 2013 final at Citi Field in New York.___More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball

Mike Trout, Aaron Judge and Mookie Betts form a dream outfield for the American League. Bryce Harper and Max Scherzer make up a not-so-gracious welcome committee for the NL.Power in the center of power. A capital-sized All-Star Game.Baseball unveiled the rosters for its midsummer showcase Sunday night, featuring an imposing AL lineup and Harper starting at his home ballpark in Washington.Reigning AL MVP Jose Altuve was one of five All-Stars from the World Series champion Houston Astros, matching the Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians for most in the majors. The New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves each had four, including rookie Gleyber Torres from the Bronx Bombers and fellow second baseman Ozzie Albies from the surprising Braves."It's fun. You're playing but you're looking around because you're playing with all those big boys out there," said Altuve, who made the AL team for the sixth time.Torres is on the disabled list with a hip injury and unlikely to participate. While he and Albies... [More]

Mike Trout, Aaron Judge and Mookie Betts form a dream outfield for the American League. Bryce Harper and Max Scherzer make up a not-so-gracious welcome committee for the NL.Power in the center of power. A capital-sized All-Star Game.Baseball unveiled the rosters for its midsummer showcase Sunday night, featuring an imposing AL lineup and Harper starting at his home ballpark in Washington.Reigning AL MVP Jose Altuve was one of five All-Stars from the World Series champion Houston Astros, matching the Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians for most in the majors. The New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves each had four, including rookie Gleyber Torres from the Bronx Bombers and fellow second baseman Ozzie Albies from the surprising Braves."It's fun. You're playing but you're looking around because you're playing with all those big boys out there," said Altuve, who made the AL team for the sixth time.Torres is on the disabled list with a hip injury and unlikely to participate. While he and Albies... [More]

Mike Trout, Aaron Judge and Mookie Betts form a dream outfield in the American League. Bryce Harper and Max Scherzer make up a not-so-gracious welcome committee for the NL.Power in the center of power. A capital-sized All-Star Game.Baseball unveiled the rosters for its midsummer showcase Sunday night, featuring an imposing American League lineup and Harper starting at his home ballpark in Washington.Reigning AL MVP Jose Altuve was one of five All-Stars from the World Series champion Houston Astros, matching the Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians for most in the majors. The New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves each had four, including rookie Gleyber Torres from the Bronx Bombers and fellow second baseman Ozzie Albies from the surprising Braves."It's fun. You're playing but you're looking around because you're playing with all those big boys out there," said Altuve, who made the AL team for the sixth time.Torres is on the disabled list with a hip injury and unlikely to participate. But while... [More]

Mike Trout, Aaron Judge and Mookie Betts form a dream outfield for the AL. Bryce Harper and Max Scherzer make up a not-so-gracious welcome committee for the NL.Power in the center of power. A capital-sized All-Star Game.Baseball unveiled the rosters for its midsummer showcase on Sunday night, featuring an imposing lineup for the American League and Harper in his usual spot at his home ballpark in Washington.Trout is working on perhaps the best season of his stellar career with the Los Angeles Angels. Judge has 25 homers and 58 RBIs for the New York Yankees, and Betts is batting .342 with 22 homers for the major league-leading Boston Red Sox.But that's just the beginning for the AL. Houston Astros second baseman and reigning AL MVP Jose Altuve led the fan balloting with 4.8 million votes. Baltimore Orioles shortstop Manny Machado will make the short trip down to D.C. for the July 17 game with speculation increasing about his future ahead of the trade deadline.Chicago White Sox first baseman... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Now that fan voting is finished, it's a good time to take a hard look at All-Star Game selections.Which players are worthy of participating July 17 in Washington, and who gets left out?Let's touch on this topic first: Shohei Ohtani is incredibly talented and fascinating to watch, but the Los Angeles Angels' two-way Japanese star simply hasn't been on the field enough to earn a spot. Not at pitcher OR designated hitter.Ohtani just returned to the lineup from an elbow injury that's knocked him off the mound for now. He's only made nine major league pitching starts, and the Angels have limited his at-bats all season due to concerns about the rookie's workload.So while it would definitely be fun to see him in baseball's summer showcase, there are several more deserving American League sluggers at DH. It wouldn't be fair to deny one of them in favor of Ohtani. And he's unavailable to pitch at this point.Let him win his invitation next season with a fully healthy and productive... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Rick Porcello hit a three-run double off former teammate Max Scherzer and pitched six effective innings, leading the Boston Red Sox to a 4-3 victory over the Washington Nationals on Monday night.Porcello got his first career extra-base hit came in the second inning on a 0-2 pitch after the Nationals intentionally walked Jackie Bradley Jr. Porcello drove Scherzer's 96-mph fastball over the head of Juan Soto in left center for his first RBIs since 2009.Scherzer and Porcello were teammates for five seasons with the Detroit Tigers.Porcello (10-3) allowed two runs and seven hits. Craig Kimbrel got four outs for his 25th save.Bryce Harper, Anthony Rendon and Daniel Murphy homered for the Nationals. Scherzer (10-5) struck out nine in six innings.BRAVES 5, YANKEES 3, 11 INNINGSNEW YORK (AP) — Ronald Acuna Jr. hit a two-run homer in the 11th inning that nicked the glove of a leaping Aaron Judge in right field, and the Braves beat the Yankees in a matchup of two of baseball's best... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Rick Porcello hit a three-run double off former teammate Max Scherzer and pitched six effective innings, leading the Boston Red Sox to a 4-3 victory over the Washington Nationals on Monday night.Porcello got his first career extra-base hit came in the second inning on a 0-2 pitch after the Nationals intentionally walked Jackie Bradley Jr. Porcello drove Scherzer's 96-mph fastball over the head of Juan Soto in left center for his first RBIs since 2009.Scherzer and Porcello were teammates for five seasons with the Detroit Tigers.Porcello (10-3) allowed two runs and seven hits. Craig Kimbrel got four outs for his 25th save.Bryce Harper, Anthony Rendon and Daniel Murphy homered for the Nationals. Scherzer (10-5) struck out nine in six innings.BRAVES 5, YANKEES 3, 11 INNINGSNEW YORK (AP) — Ronald Acuna Jr. hit a two-run homer in the 11th inning that nicked the glove of a leaping Aaron Judge in right field, and the Braves beat the Yankees in a matchup of two of baseball's best... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Rick Porcello hit a three-run double off former teammate Max Scherzer and pitched six effective innings, leading the Boston Red Sox to a 4-3 victory over the Washington Nationals on Monday night.Porcello got his first career extra-base hit came in the second inning on a 0-2 pitch after the Nationals intentionally walked Jackie Bradley Jr. Porcello drove Scherzer's 96-mph fastball over the head of Juan Soto in left center for his first RBIs since 2009.Scherzer and Porcello were teammates for five seasons with the Detroit Tigers.Porcello (10-3) allowed two runs and seven hits. Craig Kimbrel got four outs for his 25th save.Bryce Harper, Anthony Rendon and Daniel Murphy homered for the Nationals. Scherzer (10-5) struck out nine in six innings.BRAVES 5, YANKEES 3, 11 INNINGSNEW YORK (AP) — Ronald Acuna Jr. hit a two-run homer in the 11th inning that nicked the glove of a leaping Aaron Judge in right field, and the Braves beat the Yankees in a matchup between the top teams in... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Rick Porcello hit a three-run double off former teammate Max Scherzer and pitched six effective innings, leading the Boston Red Sox to a 4-3 victory over the Washington Nationals on Monday night.Porcello got his first career extra-base hit came in the second inning on a 0-2 pitch after the Nationals intentionally walked Jackie Bradley Jr. Porcello drove Scherzer's 96-mph fastball over the head of Juan Soto in left center for his first RBIs since 2009.Scherzer and Porcello were teammates for five seasons with the Detroit Tigers.Porcello (10-3) allowed two runs and seven hits. Craig Kimbrel got four outs for his 25th save.Bryce Harper, Anthony Rendon and Daniel Murphy homered for the Nationals. Scherzer (10-5) struck out nine in six innings.BRAVES 5, YANKEES 3, 11 INNINGSNEW YORK (AP) — Ronald Acuna Jr. hit a two-run homer in the 11th inning that nicked the glove of a leaping Aaron Judge in right field, and the Braves beat the Yankees in a matchup between the top teams in... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Rick Porcello hit a three-run double off former teammate Max Scherzer and pitched six effective innings, leading the Boston Red Sox to a 4-3 victory over the Washington Nationals on Monday night.Porcello got his first career extra-base hit came in the second inning on a 0-2 pitch after the Nationals intentionally walked Jackie Bradley Jr. Porcello drove Scherzer's 96-mph fastball over the head of Juan Soto in left center for his first RBIs since 2009.Scherzer and Porcello were teammates for five seasons with the Detroit Tigers.Porcello (10-3) allowed two runs and seven hits. Craig Kimbrel got four outs for his 25th save.Bryce Harper, Anthony Rendon and Daniel Murphy homered for the Nationals. Scherzer (10-5) struck out nine in six innings.MARLINS 3, RAYS 2, 10 INNINGSMIAMI (AP) — Yadiel Rivera's infield hit in the 10th inning scored Brian Anderson, lifting Miami to the victory.Anderson walked against Ryne Stanek (1-2) and took third on a single by J.T. Realmuto. Rivera,... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — CC Sabathia shut down the high-scoring Red Sox, Greg Bird hit two home runs and Aaron Judge connected off a college teammate as the New York Yankees bopped Boston 8-1 on Friday night to retake the top record in the majors.Not since the famed Bucky Dent playoff game in 1978 had the Yankees and Red Sox met so late in a season when they owned the two best marks in baseball. Home runs decided this matchup, too, with Miguel Andujar also going deep for New York.The biggest crowd of the year at Yankee Stadium was in the spirit as lines forming outside the gates more than 3 1/2 hours before the start. The pro-Yankees chants began prior to the first pitch, the anti-Boston shouts soon followed.Sabathia (5-3) helped end Boston's four-game winning streak, less than a month from his 38th birthday. He gave up one run and six hits in seven innings.Steve Pearce, acquired a day earlier from Toronto, batted cleanup in his debut for Boston and doubled and singled off Sabathia. No matter, the... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — CC Sabathia shut down the high-scoring Red Sox, Greg Bird hit two home runs and Aaron Judge connected off a college teammate as the New York Yankees bopped Boston 8-1 on Friday night to retake the top record in the majors.Not since the famed Bucky Dent playoff game in 1978 had the Yankees and Red Sox met so late in a season when they owned the two best marks in baseball. Home runs decided this matchup, too, with Miguel Andujar also going deep for New York.The biggest crowd of the year at Yankee Stadium was in the spirit as lines forming outside the gates more than 3 1/2 hours before the start. The pro-Yankees chants began prior to the first pitch, the anti-Boston shouts soon followed.Sabathia (5-3) helped end Boston's four-game winning streak, less than a month from his 38th birthday. He gave up one run and six hits in seven innings.Steve Pearce, acquired a day earlier from Toronto, batted cleanup in his debut for Boston and doubled and singled off Sabathia. No matter, the... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — CC Sabathia shut down the high-scoring Red Sox, Greg Bird hit two home runs and Aaron Judge connected off a college teammate as the New York Yankees bopped Boston 8-1 on Friday night to retake the top record in the majors.Not since the famed Bucky Dent playoff game in 1978 had the Yankees and Red Sox met so late in a season when they owned the two best marks in baseball. Home runs decided this matchup, too, with Miguel Andujar also going deep for New York.The biggest crowd of the year at Yankee Stadium was in the spirit as lines forming outside the gates more than 3 1/2 hours before the start. The pro-Yankees chants began prior to the first pitch, the anti-Boston shouts soon followed.Sabathia (5-3) helped end Boston's four-game winning streak, less than a month from his 38th birthday. He gave up one run and six hits in seven innings.Steve Pearce, acquired a day earlier from Toronto, batted cleanup in his debut for Boston and doubled and singled off Sabathia. No matter, the... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — CC Sabathia shut down the high-scoring Red Sox, Greg Bird hit two home runs and Aaron Judge connected off a college teammate as the New York Yankees bopped Boston 8-1 on Friday night to retake the top record in the majors.Not since the famed Bucky Dent playoff game in 1978 had the Yankees and Red Sox met so late in a season when they owned the two best marks in baseball. Home runs decided this matchup, too, with Miguel Andujar also going deep for New York.The biggest crowd of the year at Yankee Stadium was in the spirit as lines forming outside the gates more than 3 1/2 hours before the start. The pro-Yankees chants began prior to the first pitch, the anti-Boston shouts soon followed.Sabathia (5-3) helped end Boston's four-game winning streak, less than a month from his 38th birthday. He gave up one run and six hits in seven innings.Steve Pearce, acquired a day earlier from Toronto, batted cleanup in his debut for Boston and doubled and singled off Sabathia. No matter, the... [More]

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Lance McCullers pitched seven strong innings, Jake Marisnick homered and the Houston Astros beat the Tampa Bay Rays 1-0 on Thursday night to tie a franchise record with their 11th straight road win.McCullers (9-3) gave up three hits while striking out seven. The Astros have won his last six starts and have won 18 of 21 overall. Their 11th straight road win matched the club record set last May 14-June 5 on the way to winning the franchise's first World Series title.The Rays, who had won five straight overall and eight straight at home, had runners on first and third with none out in the eighth against reliever Chris Devenski, but Matt Duffy lined into a double play and Jake Bauers grounded out.Hector Rondon pitched the ninth for his fifth save in seven opportunities.Marisnick's homer in the fifth came off Ryan Yarbrough (7-4) and was his seventh of the season. It ended the Rays' streak of 26 scoreless innings, the second-longest in franchise history.RED SOX 4,... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp sat out against the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday night after losing his appeal of Major League Baseball's one-game suspension for a scuffle with Texas.Kemp and Texas Rangers catcher Robinson Chirinos were suspended one game apiece for tangling after a collision at home plate on June 13 at Dodger Stadium. Chirinos served his punishment the following night. Both players were fined an undisclosed amount by MLB.At the time, Kemp said he was surprised by the punishment, and he appealed because he disagreed with it.Despite going hitless in his last nine at-bats (0 for 9 with two walks), Kemp is hitting .311 with 13 home runs and 47 RBIs in 76 games this season.Kemp has surpassed Washington's Bryce Harper for second among NL outfielders in balloting for next month's All-Star Game.___More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Luis Severino became the majors' first 12-game winner, Aaron Hicks and Didi Gregorius homered and the New York Yankees beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-0 Tuesday night.Severino (12-2) struck out nine in seven dominant innings, lowering his ERA to 2.10. The ace has allowed three runs or less in 16 of 17 starts.Jake Arrieta (5-6) had another rough outing for Philadelphia, which had won four consecutive series before losing two straight to the Yankees. Arrieta gave up six runs — three earned — and nine hits in five innings.Arrieta was 0-4 with a 6.66 ERA in five starts in June after posting a 0.90 ERA in five starts last month.RAYS 1, NATIONALS 0ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - Nathan Eovaldi took a no-hitter into the sixth inning before an unusual combination of relievers in the ninth completed a three-hitter as the Rays beat Max Scherzer and the Nationals.Eovaldi (2-3) lost his no-hit bid when Bryce Harper hit an opposite-field double off the left-field wall with two outs... [More]