Pete Alonso of the New York Mets will be looking to join Ken Griffey Jr., as three-time winners of Home Run Derby after entering the competition for the fifth time. Frank Franklin II/Associated Press
PITTSBURGH — First baseman Pete Alonso of the New York Mets will participate in his fifth straight Home Run Derby, with the goal of winning it for the third time.
Bobby Witt Jr. of Kansas City, Gunnar Henderson of Baltimore, Alec Bohm of Philadelphia and Marcell Ozuna of Atlanta also have committed to the July 15 event at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. In all, there will be eight competitors.
Alonso said he wants to use whatever winnings he earns to refurbish amateur baseball fields through his charitable foundation. Alonso has donated portions of his previous prizes to the Wounded Warrior Project aiding wounded service members and Tunnel to Towers, which supports first responders and their families.
“It’s something I’m very excited about and I’m happy they asked me because it’s an opportunity to give back to the game,” Alonso said. “I want to inspire the youth, get more kids out there playing baseball across the U.S.”
Ken Griffey Jr. is the only three-time champion of the derby, which started in 1985, winning in 1994, 1998 and 1999.
Alonso won the competition in 2019 as a rookie at Progressive Field in Cleveland, then repeated in 2021 at Coors Field in Denver.
RAUL MONDESI, a former major league outfielder, was sentenced by a Dominican court to six years and nine months in jail, and fined $507,000 for corruption during his time as mayor of the city of San Cristobal.
Prosecutors accused Mondesi, 53, of embezzling $5 million during his time as mayor between 2010 and 2016. The sentence came after a deal with the prosecutors’ office. Mondesi spent six years under house arrest, which means his sentence has been completed.
ANGELS: Anthony Rendon was activated from the 10-day injured list after missing 69 ganes with a strained hamstring suffered April 20 while running out an infield hit.
“Long time coming. Ready to keep on going and finish the second half strong,” Rendon said.
MONDAY’S GAMES
PIRATES 8, METS 2: Mitch Keller pitched eight innings for his 10th win of the season and Joshua Palacios’ home run capped a five-run sixth inning as Pittsburgh won at home.
Keller (10-5) allowed two runs and seven hits in a 107-pitch outing striking out six and walking none. He is the first Pirates pitcher to have double-digit victories before the All-Star break since Gerrit Cole in 2015, and Pittsburgh earned a split of the four-game series.
It was the 49th consecutive start that Keller pitched at least five innings, the longest current run in the major leagues.
Oneil Cruz of Pittsburgh and Brandon Nimmo of New York each hit two-run homers.
CARDINALS 6, NATIONALS 0: Paul Goldschmidt and Alec Burleson homered, Miles Mikolas pitched into the seventh inning and St. Louis won at Washington.
Burleson drove in three runs for the Cardinals, who took three of four games in the series and have won six of eight overall. St. Louis is 33-18 since Mother’s Day, good for second-best in the majors behind Cleveland (32-16).
Goldschmidt’s 12th homer of the season came off left-hander Mitchell Parker in the fourth. Goldschmidt, 36, has 352 career home runs, tying Ryan Braun and Ellis Burks for 96th place in big league history. He needs 11 hits to reach 2,000.
Burleson had a two-run single and his 14th homer. He hit .300 (9 for 30) with two home runs on the road trip.
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