Jul 12, 2018 5 min read

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 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.

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 Cespedes in the 2013 final at Citi Field in New York.

Aguilar is the top seed with 23 homers. He also won the final NL roster spot on Wednesday for the All-Star Game.

Baez and Schwarber are the 18th pair of teammates to enter the same Derby. The Cubs also had two players in the competition in 2015 when Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo competed in Cincinnati.

The inclusion of Muncy gives the Dodgers a Derby participant for the fifth consecutive year. The 27-year-old Muncy has 21 homers this season in his first major league action since he hit two homers in 51 games with Oakland in 2016.

Athletics 6, Astros 4: Mark Canha’s two-RBI single in Oakland’s three-run eighth inning lifted the Athletics to a 6-4 win over the Houston Astros on Thursday.

The Athletics fell behind early but cut the lead to one with a three-run fifth. An RBI double by Matt Chapman tied it with no outs in eighth before Canha’s single off Chris Devenksi (2-2) with one out made it 6-4.

Canha’s hit landed in the corner of left field and the Astros challenged the ruling that the ball was fair, but the call was upheld.

It was another big eighth inning for the A’s, who lead the majors with 69 runs in the inning this season. This one helped them take three out of four against the Astros.

Nick Martini had three hits and drove in two runs for the Athletics, who are 19-5 in their last 24 games.

Yusmeiro Petit (3-2) allowed one hit in 21/3 scoreless innings. Ryan Buchter took over for the eighth and made back-to-back nifty plays to pitch a perfect inning.

Houston’s Charlie Morton allowed six hits and three runs in 41/3 innings.

Phillies 5, Orioles 4: Jorge Alfaro homered and drove in three runs, Nick Pivetta took a three-hitter into the seventh inning and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-4.

Making the most of a one-day stay in Baltimore, the Phillies got 12 hits off Kevin Gausman (4-7) while building a 5-0 lead against the team with the worst record in the majors.

Alfaro, the No. 9 hitter, singled and scored in the third inning, hit a two-run double in the fourth and led off the fifth with his sixth home run.

Homers by Trey Mancini and Jace Peterson brought the Orioles within a run, but Philadelphia held on to move a half-game ahead of second-place Atlanta in the NL East.

Seranthony Rodriguez worked the ninth for his ninth save.

Rockies 5, Diamondbacks 1: Gerardo Parra and Raimel Tapia had pinch-hit RBI singles in Colorado’s three-run sixth inning, helping the Rockies beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-1.

Trevor Story homered for the Rockies, and Kyle Freeland pitched six-hit ball into the sixth inning. DJ LeMahieu had two hits and drove in a run.

Colorado was coming off a 19-2 victory Wednesday night, but it trailed 1-0 before its rally in the sixth.

Arizona left-hander Robbie Ray (3-2) hit Carlos Gonzalez and walked Chris Iannetta with one out before he was replaced by Silvino Bracho, who was called up before the game. Parra then hit a tying single to right, and Tapia followed with another single off Andrew Chafin. LeMahieu drove in Parra with a sacrifice fly.

Scott Oberg (3-0) got two outs for the win.

Marlins suspend relationship with Papa John’s: The Miami Marlins have suspended their business relationship with Papa John’s after the company’s chairman of the board apologized for using a racial slur and resigned.

In a statement, the Marlins said “derogatory and insensitive comments” by John Schnatter weren’t reflective of the values of the baseball franchise.

Papa John’s announced late Wednesday that Schnatter had resigned. Forbes said Schnatter used the N-word during a media training exercise in May.

A Marlins promotion with Papa John’s had offered discounted pizza.

Richards to undergo surgery: Los Angeles Angels pitcher Garrett Richards said he has elected to undergo Tommy John surgery for his damaged ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow and will miss the remainder of the season.

Reduced to 28 starts over the last three seasons because of multiple injuries, including two UCL issues, Richards’ time with the Angels could effectively be finished after eight seasons and a 45-38 record with a 3.54 ERA. The free-agent-to-be expects to be ready to pitch at the start of the 2020 season.

Richards, 30, was 5-4 with a 3.66 ERA over 16 starts this season.