Harper ban is down to 3 games

Nats slugger agrees to drop his appeal of suspension.

Washington Nationals star Bryce Harper agreed to drop his appeal of a four-game suspension and will have one game shaved from the punishment.

Harper reached the agreement Wednesday with Major League Baseball and began s e r v i n g t h e s u s p e n s i o n immediately.

The punishment stemmed from a bench-clearing brawl on Monday after Harper was hit by a 98 mph fastball from Giants reliever Hunter Strickland.

There’s no word on Strickland, who received a sixgame suspension and also had planned to appeal.

White Sox: Broadcaster Ke n “Hawk ” Ha r r e l s o n , known for his folksy sayings and unbridled enthusiasm for his longtime team, will retire after working 20 games next year in his 34th season in the booth.

Harrelson, 75, will work primarily Sunday home dates in 2018. After he finishes his TV duties, he will serve as a team ambassador for the 2019 season.

Ange l s : Al b e r t P u j o l s hit his 599th career homer in Tuesday night’s victory over the Braves. Pujols, 37, will be the ninth player in baseball hi stor y, and the fourth-youngest, to reach 600 homers with his next home run.

■ Mike Trout had successful surgery on his injured left thumb, and the center fielder is likely to miss at least six weeks.

Orioles: Catcher Welington Castillo was placed on the 10-day disabled list with a testicular injury.

G i a n t s : O u t f i e l d e r Michael Morse, who collided hard with pitcher Jeff Samardzija during Monday’s bench-clearing brawl, was placed on the seven-day concussion disabled list.

Reds: Rookie left-hander Amir Garrett (right hip) is expected to throw a bullpen session today and could return next week, manager Bryan Price said.

Astros: Houston set a franchise record by scoring 40 runs in its three-game sweep at Minnesota. The Astros also had 37 hits in the series.

B l u e J ay s : T h a n k s t o We d n e s d a y ’s c r o wd o f 44,058, Toronto bec ame the first AL team to draw at least one million fans this season (1,014,651). The Blue Jays rank fourth in total attendance, trailing San Francisco, St. Louis and the Dodgers.

Phillies: At 17-34, the Phillies are off to their worst start since 1961. They also went 6-22 in May for their fewest wins in a month since June 1997.